Goal Statement

Comprehensive, culturally appropriate, patient- and family-centered asthma care will be accessible to all people in California resulting in optimal prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of asthma, consistent with or exceeding national guidelines.

Overview

Asthma is a complex chronic disease, with variable presentation, symptoms, triggers, severity, and progression. High quality asthma care includes accurate diagnosis and evaluation, appropriate treatment, effective patient education on prevention and self-management, and regular clinical follow-up.

Since 1991, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) has provided clinical guidelines and updates on the appropriate diagnosis and management of asthma. The NAEPP Expert Panel Report-3 (EPR-3) is an update to the Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma released in 2007. While most health care providers are aware of these national standards, many individuals in California do not receive all of the recommended components of quality asthma care from the health care system. Studies have documented that this sbstandard care particularly burdens low socioeconomic status, uninsured, rural, and racial/ethnically diverse populations. These disparities in the quality of health care for asthma are presumed to account for some, but not all, of the significant disparities in asthma outcomes (e.g., emergency visits, hospitalizations, and mortality) that persist. Potential barriers to care, such as language, access, insurance status, medication costs, environmental exposures, genetic factors, and individual health behaviors may also contribute to these disparities.

Many clinical and community interventions have successfully targeted these and other barriers and have resulted in improved clinical care and outcomes, particularly for yound and vulnerable populations. Such interventions have included use of the chronic are model, care coordination, and case management as cost-effective approaches for ensuring equitable, quality asthma care.

Goal 3 seeks improved systems of care for all individuals with asthma in California. If the goal is fully implemented, everyone with asthma will experience consistent, quality asthma care based on a statewide standard. Comprehensive care services, medications, and supplies will be appropriately financed. All systems of health care will benefit from an ongoing quality improvement process, established communication systems for shared patient information, a diverse health care workforce prepared with current asthma training and expertise, and statwide initiatives taht eliminate barriers to affordable, accessible, and culturally and linguistically appropriate care.