Efficacy of an educational tool implementation to decrease relapse utilization by asthma patients

Abstract

Asthma exacerbation patients often rely on emergency departments (ED) and urgent care or acute care clinic settings to regain control of their symptoms with almost 10% of asthmatic adults having an asthma related ED visit between 2011 and 2016 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2023). The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), encourages the utilization of self-management plans, such as an Asthma Action Plan (AAP), by patients as the first step of care in an asthma exacerbation (GINA, 2022). 10% of Montanans carry an asthma diagnosis and in 2018 with 2,000 ED visits related to asthma exacerbation treatment. The purpose of this project was to decrease relapse utilization of urgent care facilities by asthma exacerbation patients by implementing an educational tool to help increase utilization of AAPs and foster the patient-primary care provider relationship. This project aimed to provide patients presenting to the urgent care a discharge packet containing an AAP and primary care resources upon visit completion to decrease relapse utilization of the urgent care setting by asthma patients. Additionally, the number asthma exacerbation patients presenting to the urgent care was to be monitored and with a focus on those presenting on more than one occasion. Additionally, barriers to implementation were evaluated. The project aims of decreasing relapse urgent care utilization by asthma patients was inconclusive due to absence of data points available during the study timeline of relapse asthma exacerbation patients in comparison to the same 6-week timeframe from the prior year. However, this project illuminated significant gaps in what is recommended for asthma exacerbation patients and what this practice implements. Additionally, the lack of data also encouraged discussion regarding triggers to asthma exacerbation and encouraged comparing trackable triggers from the 2022-2023 season to the 2023-2024 season. Interestingly, this project highlighted a need for further education and guideline-based training for system providers to align actual treatment of asthma patients more closely to guideline-suggested management of asthma patients. More data needs to be collected regarding the implementation of self-management tool impact on decreasing relapse utilization of urgent care facilities.