AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Pediatric Asthma Care

AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Pediatric Asthma Care

Pediatric Asthma Care
Pediatric asthma affects nearly 6 million children in the United States, reducing quality of life and often leading to costly emergency department visits and inpatient admissions. Low-income, urban children experience higher asthma-related morbidity due to environmental factors and poor access to appropriate care. Managing pediatric asthma according to existing guidelines can help minimize the potential for negative outcomes.

The featured Innovations describe one program that provided services to urban preschool children in an effort to improve asthma-related outcomes, and two programs that improved pediatric asthma care by increasing adherence to well-established care guidelines.

The featured QualityTools provide parents and health care practitioners with resources to help manage pediatric asthma and improve quality of life. Featured Innovations:

•  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

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

•  Real-Time, Color-Coded Alerts Improve Adherence to Pediatric Asthma Guidelines in Primary Care Practices

Featured QualityTools:

• Child Asthma Risk Assessment Tool^© (CARAT)
Developed by National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study

• Parents Helping Parents Fight Asthma
Developed by Aurora-Sinai Hospital; Children's Hospital of Wisconsin; Children's Medical Center Dallas; Medical College of Wisconsin; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Wheaton Franciscan - St. Joseph

• Pediatric Asthma Initiative: Environmental History Form
Developed by National Environmental Education Foundation

Also in This Issue:
Innovations >

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

• Immediate Post-Event Debriefing Improves Multiple Aspects of Response to Codes and Increases Staff Satisfaction

• Public-Private Partnership Supports Medical Homes in Managing Medicaid Enrollees via Disease/Case Management and Other Initiatives, Leading to Higher Quality and Significant Cost Savings

QualityTools >

• AHRQ Quality Indicators™ Toolkit for Hospitals
Developed by RAND Corporation; University HealthSystem Consortium

• Always Events® Toolbox
Developed by Picker Institute, Inc.

• Playnormous Health Games
Developed by Baylor College of Medicine; National Institutes of Health; Playnormous, LLC; University of Texas Health Science Center