Asthma is a disease of widespread socioeconomic impact, affecting approximately 14.6 million Americans. Asthma is the third leading cause of preventable hospitalizations in the United States. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway. Asthma consists of airway obstruction that may or may not be reversible, either spontaneously or with medication, airway inflammation caused by many cellular components and increased airway hyperresponsiveness. 4.8 million children under the age of 18 have asthma. Annually asthma accounts for 13.9 million outpatient visits to private physicians’ offices, 2 million emergency department visits, approximately 500,000 hospitalizations, and approximately 5,000 deaths. Healthcare costs for asthma care is estimated at more than $6 billion a year. An estimated $1 billion a year of productivity is loss by working parents caring for children who miss school due to asthma.

Respiratory Care Consulting Services, Inc. has developed a Home Asthma Education and Compliance Program which consists of four home respiratory therapist visits. The program is a four step educational, compliance, and reinforcement program designed to teach patients with asthma to better manage their asthma at home. The program works closely with the patient and physician to monitor compliance and effectiveness of the home treatment plan. This enables the physician to make modifications to the home treatment plan in order to control and alleviate the symptoms and pathophysiological complications of asthma. The program promotes independence and increase self-reliance in the management of asthma. The main goal of the Home Asthma Education and Compliance Program is to decrease or eliminate hospitalizations and emergency room visits due to poor patient self management in the home.