Development and Evaluation of a Pharmacist-Managed Asthma Education Clinic

Abstract

This study evaluated pharmacist-provided education of asthma patients and determined whether such educational services led to decreased emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions. The study population consisted of 22 asthmatic patients referred to the educational clinic by their primary care providers. Patients attended a series of sessions on asthma and its treatment, in which pharmacists taught them about medications and their appropriate use and assisted them with metered-dose inhaler (MDI) and peak flow meter techniques. An asthma action (self-management) plan was developed for each patient. Clinical outcome measures were frequency of ED visits and hospital admissions 1 year pre- and post- education, a patient satisfaction survey, and evaluation of asthma management skills. Prior to education only 5 of 20 patients were using MDIs as prescribed, whereas, after education, 18 of 20 patients or 90% (p = 0.0015) used MDIs correctly. The pharmacist-educated patients had a 40% reduction in hospitalizations and a 66.6% reduction in ED visits related to asthma. These reductions in hospital admissions and ED visits represented a significant cost avoidance to our institution. Our findings show that a pharmacist-run educational program can improve disease management of asthmatic patients.