The Effects of a Standardized Management Plan on Children With Critical Asthma

A Standardized Clinical Assessment Management Plan (SCAMP) has been developed and implemented at Boston Children Hospital to decrease variations in clinical practice in critical asthma therapies for children. However the effects of the Critical Asthma SCAMP on the clinical outcomes in children with critical asthma are unknown. This study will assess the effectiveness of the SCAMP by comparing retrospective data from medical records in children with critical asthma to prospective clinical PPSQ SCAMP outcome data obtained during the QA process of the SCAMP. The primary aim is to determine whether a Critical Asthma SCAMP can improve clinical outcome. There are three specific pathways in the Critical Asthma SCAMP. The primary outcome measure is the length of intensive care length of stay (defined as time to every 2 hr intermittent albuterol nebulization) for all three pathways. The secondary aim is to validate a clinical asthma score to direct critical asthma therapies. To achieve this goal we will determine the relationships of the driver(s) of the SCAMP which includes Boston Children Hospital (BCH) Asthma Severity Score \[HASS\] and non-invasive measures of pCO2 to standard measures of severity of asthma (blood gases and peak flow measurements).