Association of emergency department albuterol dispensing with pediatric asthma revisits and readmissions.

Introduction: Although pediatric asthma continues to be a highly studied disease, data to suggest clear strategies to decrease asthma related revisits or readmissions is lacking. The purpose of our study was to assess the effect of emergency department (ED) direct dispensing of beta-agonist metered dose inhalers on pediatric asthma ED revisit and readmission rates.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients discharged from the pediatric ED with a diagnosis of asthma.