Key to Reducing Asthma Severity in Kids is CLEAR

According to a team of pediatric practitioners from the K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital of the Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) in Neptune, NJ, implementation of evidence-based guidelines for identification, assessment, and management of asthma in a pediatric primary care clinic led to a 96% reduction in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits.

The pediatric team evaluated the effectiveness of the Pediatric Community Linked Educational Asthma Resource (CLEAR) Program, which was commenced to incorporate the Expert Panel 3 Asthma Guidelines into the care of pediatric asthmatic patients in the JSUMC Family Health Center.

"The purpose of this program," said the practitioners, “was to increase our pediatric residents, patients, and families’ knowledge of asthma, provide a medical home for these patients, provide evidence-based care to these patients, and evaluate this program for usability in a primary care and clinic setting.”

Of 40 low-income children and adolescents aged 1 to 18 years served by the JSUMC Family Health Clinic that were enrolled in the Pediatric CLEAR Program since 2011, 36 were seen in follow-up. Of the 36 patients, there were 26 total asthma-related ED visits in the year before enrollment and only 1 asthma-related ED visit since being enrolled.

The practitioners noted that 7 million children currently have asthma in the United States and ED visits and hospitalizations for asthma have risen despite evidence-based guidelines. “The CLEAR program,” they said, “also provides participants with the resources, education and support necessary for improved control of their asthma, thereby reducing ED visits and hospitalizations.”