Asthma health management program on the cutting-edge of treatment

Education is one of the most important tools in treating asthma. More than 22 million people in the United States suffer from asthma. Although asthma never goes away, it is totally treatable. Proper asthma management improves quality of life and lung function, which is why outpatient asthma management education programs are among the latest advancements in health care.

“Previously, asthma patients only received education through inpatient programs in the hospitals and their physicians. Now they can receive in-depth education and learn self-management skills when they’re newly diagnosed or already have a pre-existing diagnosis,” says Teresa Summe, RRT, AE-C.

Area residents can now do so through Lee Memorial Health System’s Asthma Health Management Program— the only outpatient education program in Southwest Florida.

Participants in the outpatient program learn how to identify asthma symptoms and recognize triggers. Additionally, they learn how to manage symptoms on a daily basis and in an emergency situation. An asthma action plan is designed to help the patient and family determine the action they should take before they have to go to the emergency department, or to prevent them from needing to go at all. This results in fewer absences from school or work, as well as decreased emergency department visits and hospitalizations.

Reducing asthma-related visits to the emergency department or hospitalizations also saves money.

“There has been a 75 percent increase in asthma-related pediatric and adult emergency room visits and hospitalizations. Outpatient asthma education programs are a way to reduce both patient and hospital costs,” says Ms. Summe, the program’s coordinator and fulltime board certified asthma educator. “Learning how to recognize and reduce asthma symptoms and triggers, as well as understanding the asthma medications, helps to keep patients healthy and out of the hospital.”

The Asthma Health Management Program — based on guidelines by the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute — is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of health professionals, including a certified asthma educator, medical directors for adult and pediatric patients, and respiratory therapists. Patients are referred by their primary care physician, pediatrician, pulmonologist or emergency department physician, and are usually scheduled for five visits during the six-month program. Follow-up visits are then scheduled six months and one year after completing the program to ensure patients have the knowledge and resources to lead a healthy life.

The program provides each patient with an age-based information pack, which includes the asthma action plan, an educational CD and various devices and materials to educate the patient and family about asthma and ways to make their homes safer for the asthma sufferer.

LMHS will be applying for certification by the American Association for Respiratory Care after the program has been up and running for six months — the amount of time required by the AARC before a program can apply for certification. Once certified, LMHS’ Asthma Health Management Program will be the only program of its kind certified in Florida. There is only one other AARC-certified program in the U.S. 