Welcome to the Emergency Department Asthma Program (EDAP) webpage.
This page was designed to promote the increasing role Emergency Departments can play
in the care, treatment, and education of asthma. Hospitals in western North Carolina
frequently deal with asthma exacerbation in the emergency department.
The Emergency Department Asthma Program (EDAP) is a performance improvement model
of care and treatment that improves patient care while also increasing clinical knowledge.
Please read the following Program Summary and be sure to take a look at the FREE resources
developed for this grant funded program.
Emergency Department Asthma Program (EDAP)
A Quality Assurance/Performance Improvement Program
Funded by: The Duke Endowment
Grantee: The Western North Carolina Health Network
Background: EDAP is a performance improvement program designed to increase the
standard of care for all patients from age 4 to adult with a primary diagnosis of asthma.
The program template is intended to be flexible for all hospital ED participants due to
variances in local resources, organizational complexity, policies, personnel, and number
of annual asthma visits. Evaluation will focus on demonstrating asthma care improvements
in six areas: patient safety (i.e. appropriate diagnosis and/or use of medications);
effectiveness (i.e. reduced acute exacerbation); relapse of diagnosis; efficiency of
care (i.e. reductions in emergency room visits); patient satisfaction; and equitable
care of patients regardless of payor. The project may be sustained by demonstrated savings
from reduced hospitalizations and emergency room visits realized through member hospital
participation. EDAP may also possibly be sustained through efforts currently underway on
the state level to certify asthma health educators and thus allow for billing of those
services. This would sustain the asthma support group resource within emergency departments.
- Short-term Outcomes
- Improved identification of asthma patients in the ED.
- Increased numbers of ED asthma patients who have been staged for severity
- Increased numbers of hospital emergency departments that implement long term asthma
therapy and follow up with primary care providers.
- Increased use of inhaled corticosteroids for the treatment of patients with acute
asthma managed in the emergency department.
- Long-term Outcomes
- Reduced asthma-related emergency room visits.
- Reduced relapse rates for asthma related emergency room visits and hospital admissions.
- Reduced asthma-related deaths.
- Reduced costs to participating hospitals thru reduction in repeat visits by un/under-insured
patients, or patients who are unable to pay for their care.
- Results of our first year pilot intervention indicate:
- 2/3 of patients presenting to ED were enrolled
- Once enrolled, nearly all steps of intervention were complete
- About 2/3 patients using ED for asthma exacerbations were uninsured.
- Nearly all patients indicated that cost or access to medications were a key barrier to care.
- About 1/3 of uninsured patients did not have a primary care "home".
- About 2/3 of patients were Self-pay, Medicaid or Medicare
Downloadable Forms
Click on hyperlink to download and save file.
*Free copies of forms are available to NC and SC Providers ONLY. Please
email a request for printed forms.
*CUSTOMER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR COST OF SHIPPING & DELIVERY.
*FORMS ARE AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST