Sustainable Benefits of a Community Hospital-Based Paediatric Asthma Clinic

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Respiratory Medicine
• Public Health
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• A previously established paediatric asthma clinic (PAC) demonstrated significant reductions in pediatric asthma burden.
• The clinic's successful model led to a threefold expansion while preserving its care approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an expanded paediatric asthma clinic (PAC) on community asthma burden.
• To assess the continued effectiveness of the PAC's care model post-expansion.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal analysis of patient data before and after clinic expansion.
• Comparison of asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions for PAC patients.
• Benchmarking of community pediatric asthma-related ED visits and hospitalizations against provincial rates.

Main Results:

• Newly enrolled PAC patients experienced a sustained 12-month reduction in asthma-related ED visits (>60%) and admissions (>80%).
• The expanded PAC demonstrated continued effectiveness in reducing asthma-related healthcare utilization.
• The community's rate of pediatric asthma-related ED visits or hospitalizations showed significant improvement compared to other Ontario hospitals.

Conclusions:

• The expanded paediatric asthma clinic (PAC) effectively maintains its significant positive impact on pediatric asthma burden.
• The PAC model of care is scalable and sustainable, contributing to improved community-level asthma outcomes.
• Sustained reductions in emergency care utilization highlight the value of specialized pediatric asthma management.