AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Innovations & QualityTools

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AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Innovations & QualityTools

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AHRQ Innovations Exchange | National Academy and Affiliated State Chapters Support Pediatricians in Improving Asthma Care, Leading to Better Guideline Adherence and Disease Control, Fewer Acute Episodes

AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange Focuses on Pediatric Asthma Care
The May 9 issue of AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange features profiles of two programs that improved pediatric asthma care by increasing adherence to well-established care guidelines. One such profile describes a quality improvement project by the American Academy of Pediatrics that helped 49 pediatric practices in Alabama, Maine, Ohio, and Oregon better adhere to established asthma care guidelines. Support included upfront training on quality improvement concepts, followed by ongoing sharing of data and best practices and assistance with problem-solving. The program improved adherence to recommended care processes and led to better asthma control, as the percentage of patients at participating practices whose asthma was well-controlled (as defined by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) rose from 58 percent to 72 percent. Select to read more profiles of innovations related to pediatric asthma on the Health Care Innovations Exchange Web Site, which contains more than 700 searchable innovations and 1,500 QualityTools.
AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Innovations & QualityTools

Innovations

Disease Management Programs Improve Adherence to Evidence-Based Processes and Outcomes by Targeting Sickest Patients and Working Closely With Physicians 5/9/2012

A hospital-based outpatient disease management program serves patients with asthma, chronic heart failure, and diabetes and offers smoking cessation services to smokers. Unlike traditional disease management programs, this initiative heavily involves physicians in the initial referral and throughout the process and targets services toward the sickest patients (rather than to all patients with the condition).

Mobile Clinic and In-Home Educator Generate Small, Short-Term Increases in Symptom-Free Days in Inner-City Preschool Children With Asthma But No Improvements in Other Key Outcomes 5/9/2012

A mobile pediatric asthma clinic combined with home visits generated small, short-term increases in symptom-free days in preschool children, and no improvements in other key outcomes.

National Academy and Affiliated State Chapters Support Pediatricians in Improving Asthma Care, Leading to Better Guideline Adherence and Disease Control, Fewer Acute Episodes 5/9/2012

The American Academy of Pediatrics and four of its state chapters trained and supported pediatric practices on asthma care, leading to better adherence to established guidelines and improved asthma control.

Periodic Home Visits, Specialist Visits, and Followup Enhances Access and Improves Outcomes for Low-Income Children With Asthma 5/2/2012

A pediatric asthma management program led to a significant decline in the percentage of patients with moderate to severe asthma, improved quality of life, and sizable decreases in hospitalizations and costs.

Individualized, In-Home Program Identifies and Addresses Environmental Problems That Can Worsen Asthma Control 4/4/2012

A health plan's individualized, in-home, environmental asthma intervention program targets all pediatric members with confirmed allergies to indoor allergens and symptomatic asthma. During multiple in-home visits, trained asthma counselors provide education, perform an environmental assessment, demonstrate intervention equipment, devise a written care plan, and assess and address psychosocial issues.

 

QualityTools

Pediatric Asthma Initiative: Environmental History Form 5/9/2012

This form, for health care practitioners, gathers initial information on triggers commonly overlooked with children already diagnosed with asthma.

Parents Helping Parents Fight Asthma 11/24/2010

This training guide helps experienced parents teach other parents of asthmatic children what they know about the disease and how to manage it.

Improving Asthma Care for Children Toolkit: Best Practices in Medicaid Managed Care 4/28/2010

This toolkit provides strategies to improve asthma care tested by a diverse group of health plans serving Medicaid consumers.

Child Asthma Risk Assessment Tool^© (CARAT) 7/7/2008

This risk assessment tool rapidly provides a personal risk profile for a child with asthma.

Inner-City Asthma Study Questionnaires 7/7/2008

These questionnaires were used in the Inner City Asthma Study to evaluate the effectiveness of two types of interventions to reduce asthma morbidity and severity among inner-city children, ages 5-11, with moderate to severe asthma.