NLHEP
National Lung Health Education Program www.nlhep.org
| Return to Resources page
Guide to Prescribing Home Oxygen
by Thomas L. Petty, M.D.
Contents
The Key to Prescibing Home Oxygen
Patient Considerations in Selecting Equipment
About Thomas L. Petty, M. D.
Thomas
L Petty, M.D.
Dr. Petty was head of the Pulmonology division of the University of Colorado from 1971 to 1985.
Thomas L. Petty received his M.D. at the University of Colorado in 1958. He interned at Philadelphia General Hospital and received his residency training at the University of Michigan and at the University of Colorado. His pulmonary training was at the University of Colorado. Today, he is a pulmonologist and professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. He is also professor of medicine at Rush University in Chicago. He is a consultant to HealthONE and to other medical institutions throughout the United States.
Dr. Petty's group pioneered the use of ambulatory oxygen therapy. He was the chairman of the Nocturnal Oxygen Therapy Trial, the first controlled clinical trial to show that ambulatory oxygen given for most of the day improved survival, compared with stationary oxygen given for only approximately 12 hours per day, including the hours of sleep. Dr. Petty remains active in research and development in oxygen therapy equipment and its applications.
Dr. Petty is chairman of a new healthcare initiative, the National Lung Health Education Program (NLHEP). NLHEP is directed toward primary care physicians and the public. Its goal is the early diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and related disorders, particularly lung cancer.
Dr. Petty received the Distinguished Service Award of the American Thoracic Society. He was elected to the Colorado Pulmonary Physicians' Hall of Fame. He also received the annual award for excellence by the American Association for Cardiovascular Pulmonary Rehabilitation, all in 1995. The same year, he was elected to Master Fellow of the American college of Chest Physicians. He also received the Master of the American College of Physicians award in 1996. Dr. Petty was organizer and founding president of the Association of Pulmonary Program Directors, APPD. He has been past president of the American College of Chest Physicians. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the American Board of Internal Medicine and served on the Pulmonary Disease Sub-specialty Board.