Using Health IT to Improve Asthma Control in Michigan

Overview

Since 2014, Altarum’s Michigan Center for Effective IT Adoption (M-CEITA) has built a strong and successful partnership with the MDHHS Asthma Program to improve asthma control throughout the state. We offer information strategies to integrate disparate data sources, address privacy and security concerns and provide technical and implementation support to improve care coordination, foster patient-centered care, and enhance the effectiveness of evidence-based resources. We have helped providers and practices throughout the state optimize their electronic health record (EHR) implementations to support improved quality and asthma care and control.

Key Successes

In Muskegon County, Michigan, our technical field support included several ambulatory sites with different EHRs and two emergency departments. Using MDHHS’s Asthma Guideline Implementation Steps & Tools, we educated practices on guidelines for treatment of asthma, and leveraged practices’ health information technology to support reporting of the number of asthma patients in the practice, asthma prevalence, percentage of asthma patients on appropriate medication therapy and percentage of patients by age groups with a current asthma action plan (AAP). In one FQHC, the provision of AAPs for children rose from 50% in 2014 to 96.3% in 2017, after our delivery of services.

We also worked with MDHHS, emergency room physicians, and their quality improvement managers to develop an EHR enhancement for discharge instructions that included a FLARE plan.

We are continuing to implement asthma care improvement strategies by developing toolkits for two popular EHRs in Michigan. These toolkits will help practices best understand how their EHRs can provide support for asthma initiatives. Thus far, we have recruited two pediatric practices to deploy and create toolkits using their EHRs for asthma care. Once the toolkits are finalized, we will offer support to other practices that are using the same EHR products.

CMS' Improving Asthma Control Learning Collaborative

Last year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Improving Asthma Control Learning Collaborative to support state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies’ efforts to improve health outcomes.

If you’d like to learn more about how Altarum can help you leverage technology to improve asthma outcomes in your state, contact Director of Business Development, Kari Springer-Floyd.