Managing Asthma With a Team of Doctors

There are some people with asthma whose illness is pretty straightforward to treat. Perhaps your primary care doctor can manage your disease, or you may need to be referred to a respiratory specialist.

My asthma is more on the extreme side and can often be difficult to treat. Because of that, I utilize a team of doctors to help in managing my asthma.

Together, my primary care physician, allergy/immunology specialist, and pulmonologist collaborate to ensure that I effectively manage my asthma.

Building your asthma care team

The role of the primary care physician

We will start with my primary care doctor. She is highly skilled and understands the complexity of my health issues.

She knows what she can handle and recognizes when she needs to refer me to a specialist. That is certainly the case with my asthma.

If I am in a pinch and need steroids or antibiotics to help with my symptoms, she is more than willing to help me out. However, when it comes to long-term control of my symptoms, she always defers to my pulmonologist.

Effectively managing my asthma is out of her scope of practice, and she is the first to admit that. That said, she is still very involved in my asthma journey.

She communicates with my pulmonologist directly. Together, they help oversee the way my care team manages asthma symptoms.

Consulting an allergy specialist

In addition to my GP, I also see an allergy/immunology specialist. Allergies and asthma frequently go hand in hand.

I see my allergist for several reasons. Specifically, I have an autoimmune condition that brings on symptoms that are very similar to allergies.

Despite this complexity, he’s still an essential part of my asthma treatment team. Because my autoimmune disease mimics allergies, it’s important for this specialist to be included in the group that manages my asthma.

He, too, communicates with my pulmonologist. This is especially helpful when the two specialties overlap in my care.

Getting specialized care from a pulmonologist

And that brings me to "The Good Doctor." I wrote an article all about him, which you can read here.

He’s the specialist who really and truly manages my asthma. He is the one who constantly keeps an eye on my asthma symptoms and adjusts my medications as needed.

He keeps me up to date on vaccines that affect my pulmonary health. Furthermore, he keeps track of pulmonary function tests and chest CTs.

He makes recommendations for my health as a whole since asthma is one of my main health issues. If you read my article about the time it wasn’t my asthma, you’ll know that I’m on blood thinners.

My pulmonologist also manages that medication. He does a lot for me and has even saved my life once or twice. He is undoubtedly one of the most important doctors I have.

The importance of teamwork

Because I live with multiple chronic conditions, it’s critical that I have a physician who specializes in each disease. But more than that, it is important that my doctors are willing and able to communicate with each other.

This communication ensures that I receive the best possible care. Having a team of specialists treating my asthma means more eyes to monitor my condition.

It also provides more input on treatment options and, most importantly, better control of my breathing.

Who treats your asthma?

Is your primary care physician able to successfully manage your asthma, or do you have a team of specialists like me? Let us know in the comments!