Comprehensive asthma management program. In 1977, Dr. Plaut embarked on a comprehensive asthma management program. This effort took many forms and covered many sites throughout the U.S. Dr. Albert Sheffer, Chairman of the NHLBI Expert Panel on the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma, summarized Plaut’s work saying, "Dr. Plaut's contributions to asthma education are clear, concise, and accurate. They have set a new standard for excellence."
Each of the elements that Plaut developed to improve asthma care has been judged successful by those who used or participated in them. Several have been reported in journal articles. These elements include:
• Directed the nation’s most successful cohort asthma interventions. This $68,000 program saved $266,000 in hospital costs alone.
• Wrote several asthma books, three of which were cited in the 1997 NHLBI Guidelines.
• Developed the Asthma Peak Flow Diary and the Asthma Signs Diary. These diaries allow patients to see the relationship between triggers, peak flow or signs, medicines and activity on a daily basis. (Supplement, Asthma Peak Flow Diary.)
• Designed an asthma action plan for young children based on objective signs rather than symptoms.
• Designed distance-learning programs for professionals and patients.