Breathe Easy: Helping Members Manage Their Asthma

Spring 2016

 

Breathe Easy is Neighborhood’s disease management program for members with asthma. Enrollment in the plan is simple; all members aged two or older are automatically enrolled when identified through claims data as having persistent asthma.

Once enrolled, all members in the program receive educational newslet­ters to help manage their asthma. Members also have the option to access support from our nurses who provide health coaching, which includes education and informational materials to help your patient understand and manage their medications and symptoms as well as to effectively plan for visits with their providers.

Neighborhood’s goal is to reinforce providers’ treatment plans for their patient. Our nurses will notify you of your patient’s engagement, issues identified during the assessment and planned interventions. We’ll complete periodic assessments of your patient’s health, and contact you any new concerns.

As you know, the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is a widely used set of performance measures in the managed care industry, developed and maintained by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Neighborhood’s HEDIS® department sends provider sites reports that include information on your Neighborhood members with asthma related to these measures. The asthma HEDIS® measure includes evaluation of members who remained on an asthma controller medication for at least 50 percent or at least 75 percent of their treatment period, and had a ratio of controller medications to total asthma medication of 50 percent or greater.

If you would like to refer your Neighborhood patients who have asthma for educational mailings or health coaching as part of our Breathe Easy program, please call us at 1-401-459-6020.