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PEDIATRICS Vol. 110 No. 2 August 2002, pp. 454

ASTHMA: DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT

Quality of Care and Outcomes of Adults with Asthma Treated by Specialists and Generalists in Managed Care

Allen Adinoff, MD

Aurora, CO

Purpose of the Study. The growth of managed health care in the United States has been accompanied by controls on access to specialty physician services. We examined the relationship of physician specialty to treatment and outcomes of patients with asthma in managed care plans.

Study Population and Methods. We conducted a mail survey of adult asthma patients who were enrolled in 12 managed care organizations and had at least 2 contacts for asthma (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 493.x) during the previous 24 months; we also surveyed their treating physicians. This report concerns 1954 patients and their 1078 corresponding physicians. Treatment indicators included use of corticosteroid inhalers, use of peak flow meters, allergy evaluation, discussion of triggers, and patient self-management knowledge. Outcome measures included canceled activities, hospitalization or emergency department visits, asthma attacks, work days lost, asthma symptoms, physical and mental health, overall satisfaction with asthma care, and satisfaction with communication with physicians and nurses.

Results. Significant differences were noted for patients of specialists and experienced generalists compared with those of generalist physicians. Peak flow meter possession was reported by 41.9% of patients of generalists, 51.7% of patients of experienced generalists, and 53.8% of patients of pulmonologists or allergists. Compared with patients of generalists, outcomes were significantly better for patients of allergists with regard to canceled activities, hospitalizations and emergency department visits for asthma, quality of care ratings, and physical functioning. Patients of pulmonologists were more likely to rate improvement in symptoms as very good or excellent.

Conclusion. In a managed health care setting, physicians’ specialty training and self-reported expertise in treating asthma were related to better patient-reported care and outcomes.

Reviewer’s Comments. We’ve seen this sort of stuff before. The twist here is the asthma care provided by physicians with "self-reported expertise" in addition to specialists. This suggests that primary care physicians who are willing to gain knowledge in asthma care and devoted the necessary time required, can achieve outcomes similar to specialists.

REFERENCES

Wu AW, Young Y, Skinner EA, et al. Arch Intern Med.2001; 161 :2554 –2560[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2002 by the American Academy of Pediatrics

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This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Adinoff, A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Adinoff, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?