PCPs as Frontline in Dyspnea

When a patient calls a primary care provider due to shortness of breath symptoms, recommending an in-office examination is generally warranted. Your patient may explain how they are out of breath from everyday activities like using stairs, getting winded from walking the dog, or just not being able to catch their breath.

“All new episodes of shortness of breath should be evaluated in real time by a clinician, ideally in person,” said Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, a pulmonologist and associate professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. “The only time I can see foregoing an immediate clinic visit is if a known cardiopulmonary diagnosis exists.”

For example, if a diagnosis is already known (eg, chronic obstructive pulmonary