IMPACT DC

Improving Pediatric Asthma Care in the District of Columbia (IMPACT DC) Asthma Clinic targets inner-city, minority and disadvantaged children who suffer disproportionate asthma morbidity and mortality. Most live with challenging social and environmental circumstances with daily exposure to multiple asthma triggers. Their families often have a tenuous connection with their primary care providers, and thus frequently rely on emergency departments (EDs) for asthma care. While EDs typically provide excellent episodic care for acute asthma exacerbations, they usually pay little attention to longitudinal management issues. As a result, many families view asthma as an episodic problem instead of a chronic disease requiring daily management. IMPACT DC's fully validated program recruits from a large urban ED (Children's National Medical Center) and focuses on three distinct domains: environmental control, medical management, and longitudinal care. In a prospective clinical trial, it improved multiple patient outcomes. It is an innovative, replicable, and cost-efficient national model for asthma mitigation among children in the inner city.