COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 14, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (Ohio AAP) has announced significant reductions in emergency room visits and absences from work and school among patients in pediatric practices participating in its Chapter Quality Network (CQN), a quality improvement project focused on care for children with asthma.
According to data from the most recent wave of CQN participants, between September 2011 and October 2012, the percentage of school days missed due to asthma has decreased from approximately 27 percent to 15 percent; the percentage of parents missing work days due to their child's asthma has decreased by nearly half; and the number of asthma-related emergency department or urgent care visits was cut in half as well.
The CQN Asthma Project works at the local, state and national levels to improve quality of care and outcomes for children with asthma. CQN projects achieve results through quality improvement processes that allow pediatricians to implement specific initiatives within their practice and share results and learnings with their peers. To date, more than 250 Ohio pediatricians have participated in the project. The chapter is currently recruiting pediatricians for its third wave of implementation, set to begin in March 2013.
"These results show that through CQN, we are keeping parents at work, keeping kids learning in school, and minimizing trips to the emergency room for families," said Ohio AAP Executive Director Melissa Wervey Arnold. "All of these results help to eliminate stress on both the parent and the child, and help keep children healthier in the long-term."
This year Ohio AAP's involvement in the project has been funded by a generous grant from the CareSource Foundation.
"We are incredibly grateful for the support of CareSource," said Wervey Arnold. "It's through partnerships like this that we are truly able to work to achieve the shared goal of healthy children throughout the state."
The Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (www.ohioaap.org) promotes health, safety and wellbeing of children and adolescents so they may reach their full potential. The Ohio AAP works to accomplish this by addressing the needs of children, their families, and their communities, and by supporting Chapter members through advocacy, education, research, service, and improving the systems through which they deliver pediatric care. Visit http://www.ohioaap.org/program-initiatives/cqn-asthma-project for more information.
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