Asthma Management and the Allergist:

1
Asthma Management and the Allergist

• Better Outcomes at Lower Cost

2
Scope and Impact of the Asthma Epidemic

• 17 million Americans
• 5 million children
• 12.7 billion in annual costs
• 2 million emergency room visits
• 478,000 hospitalizations
• 10.8 million physician visits
• 28 million missed school and work days

3
Cost of Asthma Care
Direct Medical Expenditures Hospital care
Millions Hospital inpatient care
2,054.6 Hospital emergency care
546.3 Hospital outpatient care
722.6 Physicians services Physician inpatient
care 110.9 Physician office visits
742.7 Prescriptions
3,188.1 All direct expenditures 7,365.3
Indirect Costs
Millions School days lost 1,107.3 Loss of work
(outside employment) 1,543.2
Housekeeping 841.7 Mortality 1,813.9 All
indirect costs 5,306.0
80 of treatment resources used by 20 of asthma
patients
4
NIH Guidelines
First developed 1991 updated 1997, 2002

• Successful asthma management
• Accurate and early diagnosis

• Identify environmental triggers
• Aggressive therapy
• Patient education
• Referral for specialist care

10 years later, a majority of patients still
receive substandard care
5
Good News Asthma Can Be Controlled

• Allergists
• Follow evidence-based guidelines
• Improve outcomes
• Lower costs

6
Improved Treatment Outcomes

• Studies of care by allergists document
• Fewer hospitalizations and shorter stays
• Fewer emergency room and sick care office visits
• Improved patient productivity

7
Improved Outcomes
ER visits also reduced by 50 with asthma
specialists
8
Improved Outcomes
9
Improved Outcomes
Improved emotional and activity levels with
allergist care
10
Cost Savings
Asthma hospitalizations 2 billion annually
11
Cost Savings
Emergency room visits for asthma 546 million
annually
Work and school days lost to asthma 2.6 billion
annually
12
How Allergists Achieve Cost-Effective Outcomes

• Specialty training, knowledge and experience
  enable the allergist to
• Accurately diagnose
• Identify environmental triggers
• Administer immunotherapy
• Use current best practices for aggressive
  treatment
• Manage disease and provide patient education

13
Allergists Benefit You

• The involvement of an allergist in asthma care
  offers benefits to
• Patients
• Payers
• Society