Treating asthma by the guidelines: developing a medication management information system for use in primary care.

The aim of this study was to develop, implement, and assess an automated asthma medication management information system (MMIS) that provides patient-specific evaluative guidance based on 1997 NAEPP clinical consensus guidelines. MMIS was developed and implemented in primary care settings within a pediatric asthma disease management program. MMIS infrastructure featured a centralized database with Internet access.

Stratifying medical and pharmaceutical administrative claims as a method to identify pediatric asthma patients in a Medicaid managed care organization.

Claims data are a problematic indicator of underlying clinical diagnosis. They are attractive because of their affordability, a criterion especially salient in resource-shy environments such as the Medicaid Managed Care Organization. This study tested the validity of administrative medical and pharmaceutical claims stratified by treatment modality to identify true pediatric asthma patients.