Helping Schools with Asthma program

We are in year one of intiating a district wide asthma action plan. We are collaborating with our Green and Healthy Homes program and one physician's group in our city. Buy-in from our two hopsital ERs is very slow. Ideas to help with this? Also, who did you say you were able to access for seminars for your nurses (money always an issue)? We do have two nurses attending the asthma educator institute this summer through the Amercian lung association. Can the Texas school district share their policies, protocols, and tools developed? It sounds like a great program!!

In regards to ER buy in. I would suggest meeting with the leaders of the departments to talk about asthma clients and how often they see people continually revolve through the er.  Our data indicated that vast majority of ED patients were either self pay and or medicaid. This not only impacts costs to care for the clients but utilizes the resources of staff in the ED to care for these patients who could otherwise be cared for therefore impacting productivity. In addition reimbursement is shifting to one of quality outcomes and not fee for service and this promotes quality especially as many providers are connected with hospitals and clincially integrated networks. If a hospital can demonstrate cost savings for the cost of care, insurers often see this as attractive in selecting organziations to partner with hospitals may see this as attractive. What barriers have you encountered with working with ED Leadership?

As far as tips for ED.... Identify an individual in the hospital who is passionate about asthma management  and asthma outcomes. One who understands what a difference this will make. Maybe this person is not in the ED...but will have contacts in the ED. Maybe a respiratory therapist!Have this individual help share  ways to navigate the hospital system. Find the current trends of the ED and identify where your proposed program may help. 

Thank you.  I can share anything you would like; your first step would identify your gaps by initiating a quality of life survey for your students to determine what your needs are, target areas and your biggest challenge.  Then you know what would work for your school district.   

I would coordinate and become partners with local pulmonlogists and allergists.   Since funding is an issue for speakers, we have used these relationships with the physician (Pulmo, allergist) to speak to our nurses.  These physicians do not charge and love to educate further on athma management.  Additionally once your nurses obtain the AE-C certificate, you have them co present in your inservices.   I provide most of the inservices to the district.. but you always want the 'expertise' of a asthma specialist physician.

The data we collected on our asthmatic students for this year is this: total time spent doing episodic care, total time spent doing preventative care and total days absent due to illness (related to asthma as much as we could monitor!). Our plan is to show that as we increase our time in educating students we should see a reduction in episodic care and decrease in absenteeism. I like the idea of the quality of life survey. We could certainly have our students take that at the beginning of next school year. Is this something you created? We did collaborate with two allergists in our town and they have been very helpful. They did do a full day seminar for us last Fall. I am hoping I will get more tools at the asthma educator institute. 

Yes, I created it, as it needs to be relevant to your geographic area.  I would be happy to provide you ours.  (there are many on the intranet)  

Ours is 20 + questions-- beyond the two question survey that is common to general health surveys. The survey needs to represent the national guidelines on control, frequency of symptoms, days of school missed, ED visits, loss of work days, etc.  Simply answering the questions educates those taking the survey expectations and ashtma guidelines.  Additonally we asked home campus so we could target which schools had which issues.

I am sorry I was called away. I would like to give you my contact information. 

rsimpson@dbqschools.org

Ph-563-552-3084

Fax 563-552-3102

Thank you