Asthma Information For Healthcare Providers

What You Should Do

Know and apply evidence-based standards of care.

Refer your patients to a Certified Asthma Educator. If you or someone in your practice is interested in becoming a Certified Asthma Educator, contact Nancy Sutton.

Refer your patients to Living Well Rhode Island - an evidence-based chronic disease self-management program.

Help a patient or their household family member quit smoking.

Fill out an Asthma Action Plan with your patients to provide a simple, comprehensive form for use by school nurses, teachers, and coaches to help manage and communicate a care plan for asthma (more).

Let parents know about community asthma resources including Hasbro Children's Hospital's: Draw-A-Breath education program and Asthma Camp.

Consider focusing on quality improvement of asthma care as part of the National Center for Quality Assurance Patient Centered Medical Home accreditation process. Self-management goal setting and a written care plan are integral to accreditation for practices implementing asthma as an area of focus. For more information on local providers who have done this, contact Nancy Sutton. (more)

Distribute our printed materials on: what is asthma, keeping asthma triggers under control, mold, steps patients can take to decrease asthma triggers in the home, safe cleaning for people with asthma, and steps that landlords can take to improve housing conditions for tenants.

What We Do

Provide support to improve the quality of asthma care in community health centers via the Rhode Island Chronic Care Collaborative.

Develop and implement innovative pilot projects to address environmental triggers in the home and provide asthma education:

• Breathe Easy At Home is project designed to diagnose and control asthma triggers in the home of children in rental properties with asthma in select core cities.
• The Home Asthma Response Program is a partnership between Hasbro Children’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Services and the Asthma Control Program. This pilot program has provided asthma education and environmental assessment home-visits for children who have been seen in the Hasbro Emergency Department for asthma exacerbation.

Coordinate the Asthma Control Coalition.