From Asthma Severity to Asthma Control: Identification of New Guidelines

BACKGROUND: Managed care pharmacists utilize clinical guidelines to assist themin identifying acceptable treatment and management of chronic diseases. For thepast several months, an expert panel representing the National Asthma Education andPrevention Program (NAEPP) has discussed updated asthma guidelines, which couldchange future medication management of patients with asthma. OBJECTIVES: To identify new guidelines for asthma control. SUMMARY: Taking control of asthma is a foremost objective in managed care, asnew guidelines are debated, and asthma disease management programs identifymore effective models of asthma disease management. Within an effective asthmadisease management program, managed care practitioners, including but not limitedto physicians and pharmacists, must have a thorough understanding of the mostrecent clinical guidelines as well as current knowledge of the current consensusamong opinion leaders regarding asthma treatment and management. This ongoingeducation is critical in order to allow managed care practitioners to perform theirrole and function within their organizations. With the advent of changing asthmapractice guidelines and processes, managed care practitioners need current informationto recognize and apply guidelines-based asthma control. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate asthma treatment requires adherence to currentmanagement guidelines. Approximately one third of asthmatics will not respondto standard asthma treatment and may even worsen while on therapy. Monitoring,close tracking, and regular evaluation of asthma patients at every health careprovider visit is a strategy that can be utilized to generate improved asthma control.