Children’s Asthma Care Measures
Children’s Asthma Care has three core measures that are used to guide the provision of healthcare services to patients. The three core measures include the use of relievers for all inpatient asthma conditions (Joint Commission, 2019). The second measure involves the application of systematic corticosteroids for inpatient asthma. Nurses apply systematic corticosteroids since it is effective to provide an anti-inflammatory effect on the patient. For example, a Prednisone is used as one of the systematic corticosteroids to treat allergic conditions by suppressing the immune system’s reaction (Joint Commission, 2019). The third measure involves an elaborate home management strategy of taking care of the sick. The plan is to be provided to the patient as well as the caregiver. Home management plans are effective since they can prevent readmission which is expensive both for the healthcare facility and the patient. The three core measurements are used to standardize the treatment of asthma, especially among children. They are also used to prevent severe conditions that may arise if the necessary precaution is not taken (Joint Commission, 2019). Preventable deaths may also be minimized if the core measures are adhered to. The measurements became effective since 2015 and are used to enhance the quality of healthcare for children suffering from asthma.
Healthcare Facilities Following the Requirements
Healthcare facilities can strictly follow the measures provided in the Children’s Asthmatic Care. The simple measure is to guide the health practitioners on how they should handle different situations (Joint Commission, 2014). It shows how to handle both inpatient and outpatient cases. The measures are necessary since in the past children have been exposed to severe asthmatic attack due to lack of proper care. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure they train and empower all the nurses to follow the measures. The healthcare facilities should seek the necessary help to ensure they follow the measure strictly (Joint Commission, 2014). One of the help they can receive is carrying out elaborate orientation for their nurses. They should also provide the necessary funding to ensure all the drugs and equipment are available to ensure proper treatment of patients.
Healthcare providers should be ready to provide data that can be used to improve the quality of asthma treatment and management among children. Reporting and analysis of the errors that have occurred in the delivery of care to children suffering from asthma will be used to enhance the quality of care (Joint Commission, 2014). Healthcare facilities should encourage the nurses to provide information on areas they believe have been difficult to implement the measures. Nurses should be confident that the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 will provide the necessary confidentiality for any information provided (Fassett, 2006). The assurance is likely to trigger more nurses to volunteer information on areas they struggle in while taking care of asthmatic patients.
Prediction of Penalties
The penalties for failure to adhere to the outlined measure guidelines are meant to encourage the healthcare facilities to provide the best quality of care (Parikh, Keller & Ralston, 2018). One of the consequences is that healthcare facilities that do not provide information on the measures they have taken will be penalized for nonparticipation plus bonuses for low-cost care. They will be subjected to 1 percent reduction in the annual payment update. The penalty is meant to encourage healthcare providers to remain high-value providers (Fassett, 2006). The reason is that the low-value providers will be eventually penalized as a way of encouraging them to always offer the best quality of services and reduce cases of readmission (Parikh, Keller & Ralston, 2018). The penalty means that the hospitals that have poor adherence will receive less financial support for the extra costs incurred.
Conclusion
Children’s Asthma Care has various measures that are used to ensure patients are well-taken care of. The three measures include using relievers for inpatients as well as systematic corticosteroids to take care of inpatients. The children suffering from asthma should also be provided with the necessary home care plan that should be availed to the patient or caregiver. It is important to ensure the measures are followed strictly to avoid the penalties against healthcare facilities. The measures are taken to ensure the hospitals can reduce the rate of readmissions which undermines the health of asthmatic children. It is also used as a precaution to avoid the unnecessary cost that may occur due to high rate of readmission.
References
Fassett, W. E. (2006). Patient safety and quality improvement act of 2005. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 40(5), 917-924.
Joint Commission (2019). Children’s asthma care core measure. Retrieved from https://www.jointcommission.org/childrens_asthma_care/
Joint Commission. (2014). Specifications manual for national hospital inpatient quality measures. Version, 3, 135-136.
Parikh, K., Keller, S., & Ralston, S. (2018). Inpatient quality improvement interventions for asthma: a meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 141(5), e20173334.
