MILWAUKEE – (January 18, 2022) – Here in Wisconsin more than 465,000 adults and 72,000 children live with asthma. To help primary care clinics and healthcare providers better care for their patients with asthma, the American Lung Association is partnering with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to offer the Enhancing Asthma Care program to providers in Wisconsin at no cost.
The American Lung Association’s Enhancing Asthma Care program is proven to improve a clinic’s quality of asthma care, improve health outcomes of their patients with asthma, improve quality indicators/metrics, and capture legal and appropriate reimbursement.
“Asthma is a very common lifelong lung disease. There is no cure, but thankfully, with proper management, people with asthma can live a normal, healthy life,” said Jill Heins, National Senior Director of Health Systems Improvement and Indoor Air Quality with the American Lung Association. “Our Enhancing Asthma Care program is focused on improving the health of people with asthma starting from childhood throughout their lives.”
This Enhancing Asthma Care program has been proven successful in more than 480 clinics in 17 states. Initial results published in the May 2018 issue of Journal of Asthma revealed a significant improvement in six key indicators, include severity rating; patient self-assessment, such as Asthma Control Test; controller medications; spirometry to confirm the diagnosis of asthma and ongoing management; written asthma action plan; and patient asthma education. Results also show a 42% reduction in asthma-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations.
Enhancing Asthma CAre allows providers and other healthcare professionals to earn Maintenance of Certification Part 4 credits, as well as CME and CEU credits. Clinics that successfully complete the program will receive a $5,000 stipend.
This program is available at no charge to primary care clinics in Wisconsin. The Lung Association encourages clinics that serve both pediatric and adult patients to take advantage of this free program. Learn more and sign up at Lung.org/EnhancingAsthmaCare.
