Community Hospital Pathway for Critical Asthma Exacerbations

Investigators from Boston Children’s Hospital and South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, MA, assessed the impact of implementation of a clinical pathway for care of children with “critical asthma” in a community hospital without a pediatric ICU. For the study, children ≥2 years old admitted with an asthma exacerbation and requiring continuous albuterol via a nebulizer (CAN) were eligible for inclusion. A clinical pathway for management of these patients was implemented at the study site community hospital in September 2016. Standardized treatments were guided by use of the Hospital Asthma Severity Score (HASS). Data on children meeting study inclusion criteria during the baseline period (September 2014 to August 2016) and those admitted during the implementation period (September 2016 through December 2017) were …