American Academy of Family Physicians Offers Asthma & Allergy Resource Program as an Alternative to Traditional Continuing Medical Education

LEAWOOD, Kan. - The American Academy of Family Physicians, recognizing the need to provide high-quality care to patients who suffer from such chronic conditions as asthma and allergies, has created the Asthma & Allergy Resources for the Family Physician program. This program will be launched at the Translating Research Into Practice Conference, July 12, in Washington, D.C.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, asthma was the primary reason for 10.4 million physician office visits and 1.8 million emergency department visits in 2000. Allergies affect as many as 40 to 50 million people in the United States and often accompany asthma.

The Asthma and Allergy Resources program combines science, education and quality to give family physicians the practical tools they need to improve the systems on which chronic care depends. By providing help to implement the necessary system changes, this program goes beyond simply offering continuing medical education (CME) for the physician.

The Asthma & Allergy Resource Program includes several components. The first component - a year-long "Learning and Improvement Collaborative on Healthcare for Children with Asthma" - was co-sponsored by the AAFP and the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality. The collaborative involved 13 family practices across the country and focused on establishing best practices in asthma care in family medicine settings.

The second component of the resource program is a point-of-care decision support tool based on asthma guidelines from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP).

Two practice-based research projects are also currently underway as a component of the resource program. The first project aims to assess the ability of family physicians' practices to perform spirometry and to evaluate the value of those tests in the primary care setting. The second project involves development and validation of a patient-oriented tool for assessing asthma control. Both projects aim to translate research into practice by better understanding the opportunities for improving care and by offering tools for both physicians and their patients.

Finally, the resource program offers an Asthma & Allergy Resource Guide that provides physicians with the necessary tools to implement system changes in their practice. Components of the guide include asthma action plans for adults and children, and a reprint of the current NAEPP guidelines for easy reference.

The Translating Research Into Practice conference, co-sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Cancer Insitute and the Department of Veteran Affairs, provides a forum for health care professionals to share experiences and collaborations for moving research into sustained behavior change. The Asthma & Allergy Resources for the Family Physician program will be shared as an innovative model for implementing research into practice.

Quality care of asthma and allergies requires a partnership between the patient and his or her family physician. The AAFP's Asthma & Allergy Resources for the Family Physician program fosters that relationship by providing the necessary tools for the physician to identify, treat and manage these chronic conditions in coordination with the patient.