The Pediatric Asthma Emergency Department Use measure estimates the rate of emergency department (ED) visits for children who are being managed for identifiable asthma.
Asthma is associated with increased hospitalizations and ED visits, as well as racial and ethnic disparities in outcomes (Cabana, 2007). There are many factors that can lead to a child with asthma receiving care in the ED: poor asthma control, severity of symptoms, decreased access to care, and ability to enact emergency care, among many others. There are also numerous factors and settings that impact the asthma ED measure, including schools, ED, acute care, access to specialist, and community.
Measure Specifications and Reporting
This measure estimates the rate of ED visits for children ages 3-21 who are being managed for identifiable asthma, using specified definitions. The measure is reported in visits per 100 child-years.
This measure requires administrative data and is calculated as follows:
# of asthma-related ED visits and hospitalizations
100 child-years for children with identifiable asthma
Detailed measure specifications and other materials needed to implement the measure using administrative data are available below:
- Measure Technical Specifications (PDF, 173 KB): This document summarizes the measure technical specifications, providing a high-level description of how the measure is calculated.
- SAS Code (PDF, 334): This document provides SAS code to produce the member-month datafiles to calculate the measure as described in the measure specifications.
- ICD/CPT Codes: This Excel file (36 KB) contains the codes used to define elements of the measure specifications. Both ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes are included so that data can be analyzed before and after the switch to ICD-10. The codes are embedded into the SAS code, but they are provided here separately for ease of review.
- Input File Specifications: This Excel file (36 KB) provides definitions and names for input variables needed for the files to be processed using the provided SAS code. This allows measure implementers to choose and rename the input variables from the administrative claims they are using in calculating the measure.
- Flow Diagram for Measure Coding (PDF, 239 KB): This document provides a visual map and representation of the data processing steps needed to take raw administrative claims datafiles and create the measurement files as described in the measure specifications. The diagrams visually represent what the posted SAS code does. In other words, the SAS code implements the processing steps, and the flow diagrams are aids to understanding the SAS code.
References
Cabana MD, Slish KK, Evans D, et al. Impact of Physician Asthma Care Education on Patient Outcomes. Pediatrics 2006;117(6):2149-2157.
