Important Safety Information | NIOX VERO® User Manual (PDF)
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Quality Outcomes Framework
The recent changes in the GP contract can help make a difference with new QOF funding for asthma care.
Calculate your practice's QOF value →Asthma: a challenge for primary care
Asthma accounts for 2-3% of primary care consultations in the UK. Managing asthma often involves multiple tests that can be time- and resource-consuming, with some results taking up to two weeks. Patients with uncontrolled asthma are at increased risk of exacerbations, with consequences ranging from poor quality of life and missed days of work or education to serious respiratory complications and death.1
To avoid unnecessary appointments, the key challenges are early diagnosis, correct treatment and patient education.1
FeNO testing: a safe and easy way to meet QOF requirements
FeNO stands for Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide. FeNO levels are elevated in asthma and reduced by steroid therapy. A high FeNO value means a patient is 7x more likely to have asthma.2 FeNO testing is non-invasive and simple to perform, with the test completed and results available in less than two minutes.
QOF indicator AST006 grants points for asthma patients registered with a record of spirometry and one other objective test. The objective test can either be FeNO, reversibility or variability.3 Reversibility takes 40 minutes and variability takes two weeks, making FeNO the most convenient test.
Why choose FeNO?
Misdiagnosis is not uncommon in asthma and traditional assessment is not usually enough to make a confident decision.4 Adding FeNO testing to the clinical routine has been proven to help with more accurate diagnoses.2 That's why NICE recommends all adults perform a FeNO test if asthma is suspected and for children, when the diagnosis is uncertain.5
NICE also suggests FeNO testing to support asthma management in patients who remain symptomatic despite inhaled corticosteroids (ICS).5 Ensuring patients are well-controlled and symptom-free reduces the risk of exacerbations and contains the cost of asthma management. Optimising therapy and adherence with FeNO testing, known as FeNO-guided management, has been proven to reduce asthma exacerbations by up to 50%.6
Helping you and your patients
FeNO testing is a helpful educational tool in asthma management. Tracking their FeNO values often helps patients to understand the importance of taking their medication regularly, which may improve their adherence.
Better asthma control reduces the number of unscheduled visits to the surgery, freeing up your time and resources.7
QOF Calculator
Use our QOF calculator to see the funds your practice could access by including FeNO testing in your asthma management algorithm.
FeNO by NIOX VERO®
Learn more about the gold standard FeNO testing device.
Get started with NIOX VERO®
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References
1. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/asthma/ last accessed 15/11/2021. 2. Wang Z et al. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The clinical utility of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in asthma management. Comparative Effectiveness Reviews, 197. 2017. 3. NHS website. https://qof.digital.nhs.uk/ last accessed on 15/11/2021. 4. Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Global strategy for asthma management and prevention. 2021 update. 5. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE guideline NG80. Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management. 2021. 6. Petsky HL et al. Tailoring asthma treatment on eosinophilic markers (exhaled nitric oxide or sputum eosinophils): a systematic review and meta-analysis. Thorax. 2018;73(12):1110-9. 7. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Diagnostics guidance DG12. Measuring fractional exhaled nitric oxide concentration in asthma: NIOX MINO, NIOX VERO and NObreath. 2014.