The purpose of this guideline is to update the 2007 American College of Physicians guideline on diagnosis and management of stable COPD and present new evidence on the diagnosis and management of stable COPD. This guideline update was developed through a joint collaboration among 4 organizations: the American College of Physicians (ACP New pulmonary embolism guidelines suggest that computed tomography (CT) imaging and plasma D-dimer testing are overused in patients suspected of having a pulmonary embolism, and may do more harm ACCP and CTS issue joint guideline on COPD exacerbations . Publish date: April 22 is recommended because of its benefit regarding general health and the fact that existing guidelines recommend it for COPD patients. The guideline also addresses the use of numerous medications, alone or in Internal medicine physicians indicated more familiarity with COPD guidelines than family physicians, possibly in part because internal medicine physicians may care for more patients with COPD than family practitioners. Internists were most familiar with the ACP guidelines. METHODS: This guideline is based on a targeted literature update from March 2007 to December 2009 to evaluate the evidence and update the 2007 ACP clinical practice guideline on diagnosis and management of stable COPD. The American College of Physicians and 3 other physician organizations issued a joint clinical practice guideline on diagnosis and management of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. ACP convened the four organizations to develop the joint guideline. COPD is the third leading cause of death and 12th leading cause of illness in the United States. Because many patients are not getting appropriate care, the guideline aims to help clinicians diagnose and manage stable COPD, prevent and treat exacerbations, reduce Additional advice offered on accurately coding the severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. More on COPD documentation and coding cha