The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68563

Caroline G. West, MA, MPAff¹, Kathleen H. Coughey, PhD¹, Erica J. Altman, BA¹, and Katherine Lupton, BS². (1) Research and Evaluation, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, 260 S. Broad Street, 20th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19102, 215-985-2528, caroline@phmc.org, (2) Healthier Babies, Healthier Futures, Inc., 260 S. Broad Street, 17th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Childhood asthma has become increasingly prevalent in the United States over the past two decades. As with many public health problems, the burden of this disease falls disproportionately on the poor and those living in urban areas. The inner-city poor, in particular, are more likely than others with the condition to suffer from uncontrolled asthma. In order to improve access to and delivery of asthma services within the Medicaid Managed Care population in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Allies Against Asthma Coalition has adopted an approach that links pediatric asthma clients with a network of services. This approach, the Child Asthma Link Line (CALL Center), was developed to provide telephonic bilingual care coordination for children with asthma who receive medical assistance or who are without insurance. The CALL Center connects these children to appropriate asthma-related services, and follows their families for several months to ensure that they are receiving the services that they desire and need. CALL Center clients are either self-referred, or are referred by emergency departments, school nurses, or community agencies. This paper will describe patterns of use of the CALL Center. The emphasis will be on the demographic characteristics of CALL Center clients, their needs, and how the Care Coordinators subsequently address these needs. Measures of improvement in families' asthma management skills and quality of life will also be described. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of a telephonic approach to care coordination and integrative approaches to chronic diseases in general.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify workable components of a service integration model for chronic diseases.
• Describe the CALL Center user population and the services they receive.
• Recognize the critical importance of participation by and cooperation with insurance providers.

Keywords: Asthma, Service Integration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.