RAND Corporation and MCAN Special Project
 Estimating the Impact of Improving Asthma Treatment: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature*
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While there is a wealth of information on quality problems in asthma care, treatment options and impact of the disease, a comprehensive review that integrates the existing evidence and provides consensus estimates for the cost and benefits for better care is lacking.

This report, funded by the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc., tries to bridge that gap, and inform the debate about better ways to care for asthma by synthesizing the research on the cost and benefits of better asthma care:

1. What are the gaps in the quality of asthma care for children and all patients;
2. What are the clinical and policy implications of those gaps (e.g., excess morbidity and mortality, avoidable hospitalizations, loss school/work days);
3. What would it cost to close the quality gaps; and
4. What would be the return on investment/cost-benefit ratio of better asthma care?

While the researchers could not obtain reasonable estimates of the costs or benefits of care, they found that there were substantial gaps in the quality of asthma care and that disadvantaged populations appear to receive worse care. More economic evaluation of the impact of these gaps and of interventions to improve asthma control is needed; such research should use standard definitions to allow comparison across studies and aggregation of data.

*Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes.