Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Awards Grants To Improve Asthma Care for Children

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation last week awarded five health plans grants to develop "models of pediatric asthma care" for CHIP and Medicaid beneficiaries. The three-year, approximately $500,000 grants are part of RWJF's Improving Asthma Care for Children Program, a $3 million national initiative. The health plans selected to receive grants are:

Family Health Partners: Based in Kansas City, Mo., the health plan will use the grant to expand an asthma management program by creating a registry and providing financial incentives for providers who implement a standard curriculum.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Western New York: Based in Buffalo, N.Y., the plan will use the grant to expand "collaborative activities" and implement an American Lung Association program.
Monroe Plan for Medical Care: Based in Rochester, N.Y., the plan will use the grant to ensure coordination of care by working with school and community clinics to reduce hospital and emergency room utilization.
The Bronx Health Plan/Genesis Health Plan: Based in the Bronx, N.Y., the health plan will improve patient education by providing home visits to new members with "severe asthma."
Contra Costa Health Plan: Based in Martinez, Calif., the health plan will expand its asthma management program to include children and increase collaboration with providers for asthma self-management.

Patricia Barta, deputy director of the Center for Health Care Strategies, which administers the initiative, said, "Children from predominantly urban low-income families have poor access to more appropriate types of outpatient care and they tend to have more exposure to things in the environment that trigger asthma flare-ups, such as smoke, cockroaches and dust mites. Improvements in the medical management of these children will depend on coordinating efforts among health care providers to address both the medical needs and the life factors that interfere with better health outcomes" (RWJF release, 10/25).

Demographic Information
In related news, the Center for Health Care Strategies has released a chartbook to assist states, health plans and policy makers in designing "more effective" systems to treat children with asthma. In addition to showing "gaps" on coverage for asthmatics, the chartbook -- "Asthma Care for Children: Financing Issues" -- provides demographic information about children with asthma (CHCS release, 10/25). The book also compares the cost of asthma treatment in private and public health systems, as well as asthma's financial impact on the health care system and families ("Asthma Care for Children: Financing Issues," October 2001).

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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Awards Grants To Improve Asthma Care for Children

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