BioSTL Partners with Asthma Ready® Communities to Bring Groundbreaking Innovation to Combat Childhood Asthma in Rural Missouri

November 13, 2024

BioSTL Partners with Asthma Ready® Communities to Bring Groundbreaking Innovation to Combat Childhood Asthma in Rural Missouri
“Asthma Days” aimed at supporting the nearly 115,000 Missouri children suffering from asthma – empowering families with knowledge and resources needed to provide quality care.
Nov. 15, 2024, Potosi, MO – Some mid-Missouri children with asthma and their families are getting help, thanks to a new effort to bring state-of-the-art healthcare to the rural Missouri kids who need it most.
The title of the new program says it all: At Last! Pediatric Asthma Care at Home! The goal is to provide cutting-edge care at home for pediatric asthma patients who are struggling to control the disease – and address a major need across the state. A new remote patient monitoring and virtual support technology focused on pediatric asthma, is being introduced in Missouri – aimed at addressing a critical health challenge for rural kids.
This is a statewide project of BioSTL’sCenter for Rural Health Innovation, specialty-care providerNuvoAir Medical, andAsthma Ready® Communities that is being launched with Great Mines Health Center.
Friday, Nov. 15th from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Center, located at 1 Southtowne Drive, Potosi, Mo., 63664, pediatric asthma patients and their parents will meet with a variety of healthcare professionals to measure their lung health, learn more about their asthma and how to control it. All kids who need it will receive essential asthma equipment and supplies and personalized Asthma Action Plans for home and school. The highest-risk children will be enrolled in NuvoAir Medical’s at-home program and will receive an at-home spirometer to measure lung function, an inhaler sensor to measure inhalation technique, and virtual visits to provide extra support.
“Bringing world-class medical care to rural Missourians is good for everyone. This is why building a rural-centric healthcare model that brings care to rural citizens where they live, 24/7, based on cutting-edge technology, is a priority of the Center for Rural Health Innovation.”
Vijay Chauhan, Head of the Center for Rural Health Innovation at BioSTL
Almost 9% of Missouri’s children have asthma, and approximately half of these children have cases that are uncontrolled, meaning they frequently require urgent or emergency care and/or acute hospitalization, rather than regular, proactive care that can prevent issues before they arise. That’s not only hard on these children and their families; it’s hard on Missouri’s Medicaid budget, which covers the healthcare needs of 40% of all children in the state.
“The average child with asthma enrolled in our state’s Medicaid program sees their primary care provider fewer than two times a year,” said Kirk Mathews, MO HealthNet Transformation Director. “We know we can’t move the needle without healthcare innovation such as this.”
Great Mines Health Center is one of several rural healthcare providers participating in this study through 2025. At these ‘Asthma Days,’ young asthma patients and clinicians will discuss healthcare goals not typically discussed during acute-care visits, and establish continuous care at home to manage their disease.
To study the impact of this new, rural-centric healthcare model, partners will utilize the Missouri Medicaid Program claims data for families who chose to opt-in to NuvoAir Medical virtual care. They will evaluate the model’s ability to help control asthma and reduce acute-care costs. As part of this, ARC will provide health centers with Asthma Risk Panel Reports to identify at-risk children and strategies to improve asthma care for patients, including hands-on training and support for staff.

Dr. Eric Harker, Chief Medical Officer at NuvoAir Medical “Our clinical team will be looking to identify how we can help families the most and will provide them with the skills and confidence to follow their Asthma Action Plans while we monitor their lung health and medication use, so no child falls through the cracks. Our goal with partners is to help keep kids at school, learning and playing, and out of hospitals and emergency rooms.”

Dr. Benjamin Francisco, Director of Asthma Ready Communities: “We know that many families aren’t getting the help they need to control asthma, which puts these kids at serious risk. Asthma Days are aimed at providing extra specialty support to both primary-care physicians and families, and we provide access to specialty care with ongoing monitoring from home to see where and when problems arise so we can act quickly to avoid serious exacerbations. We expect to see a real shift in outcomes with this model.”

Families participating in the four-month program study will also receive:

A prescription for a Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (SMART) inhaler recommended by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and MO Medicaid Pharmacy Director.

A prescription for an albuterol inhaler for quick relief at school, if needed

Two air chambers or "spacers" for inhalers to help ensure the medicine reaches the lungs

A sensor that attaches to the inhaler and monitors medication through a smartphone app.

An easy-to-use home spirometer for breathing tests that connects to a smartphone app to measure airflow or lung function.

Text messages with short videos about asthma and asthma care tailored to the child's needs (e.g. how to reduce triggers, how to use the inhaler, etc.).

Other asthma supplies as needed such as a nebulizer and nasal rinse kit.

For More Information:

Contact: Anne Silea, Center for Rural Health Innovation Manager at BioSTL asilea@biostl.org (314) 503-5616