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Development and dissemination of minimum standards of care for asthma
D Kennerly1, M Millard, V Moore
1Baylor Healthcare System, Dallas, USA.
Insights
Improving asthma care in North Texas involved a coalition creating Minimum Standards of Care for Asthma. This practical approach addresses barriers to implementing best practice guidelines for better patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Healthcare Management
- Public Health
Background:
- Asthma affects children and adults, often with suboptimal outcomes despite existing guidelines.
- Implementing national and international asthma guidelines faces practical barriers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To improve asthma care in North Texas by developing Minimum Standards of Care for Asthma.
- To create a consensus-based, practical guideline for asthma management.
Main Methods:
- A coalition of diverse healthcare stakeholders collaborated.
- A panel of regional asthma experts was convened.
- Primary care providers were surveyed to inform guideline development.
Main Results:
- A one-page Minimum Standards of Care for Asthma document was created.
- The guideline was approved by regional healthcare stakeholders and specialty organizations.
- The developed standard addresses practical barriers to best practice implementation.
Conclusions:
- A stakeholder-supported minimum standard guideline offers a realistic intermediate goal for improving asthma care.
- Collaborative development can overcome barriers to implementing best practice guidelines.
Abstract:
Asthma is a common illness in children and adults that is often associated with suboptimal outcomes, despite the existence and distribution of carefully considered national and international guidelines for diagnosis and treatment. The need to improve asthma care in North Texas motivated a coalition of health plans, employers, hospitals, academic medical centers, providers, and benefit consultants to collaborate in developing and implementing Minimum Standards of Care for Asthma. To gain consensus, the North Central Texas HEDIS Coalition used a panel of regional asthma experts and surveyed a large number of primary-care providers to construct a one-page document that was ultimately approved by regional stakeholders in healthcare participating in this coalition and also by specialty organizations in Texas. Adopting a minimum standard guideline, developed and supported by multiple stakeholders, may represent a more realistic intermediate goal when implementing "best practice" guidelines is limited by practical barriers.