Aetna Launches Program to Improve Asthma Outcomes of African American and Hispanic Medicaid Members in Delaware
March 07 2011 - 12:31PM
Business Wire
Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced a pilot program for its
Medicaid members in Delaware. This program aims to improve health
outcomes of Hispanic and African American patients who struggle
with asthma. The pilot is a year-long initiative that adds new
health care interventions to better control asthma and help reduce
the need for emergency room visits.
Nearly 1,000 child, teen and adult members of Delaware
Physicians Care, Aetna’s Medicaid plan in the state of Delaware,
are expected to participate in the pilot. The program coincides
with Aetna’s 10th anniversary of working to address racial and
ethnic disparities in health care – through researching, developing
and delivering culturally appropriate care for its members.
Wayne Rawlins, M.D., national medical director, racial and
ethnic equality initiative at Aetna, says the disparities in asthma
are compelling. “Asthma has the highest prevalence in African
Americans. They are three times more likely to die from asthma than
non-Hispanic whites,” Rawlins says, citing statistics from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH). Asthma is a potentially
life-threatening respiratory condition that affects more than 22
million people in the United States.
In Aetna’s Delaware pilot, a combination of interventions will
be used with the Medicaid members. Participants will receive
culturally appropriate educational materials and disease management
programs. These “health literate” resources are written in plain
language so that they are easy to understand. Additionally,
patients are offered the opportunity to have their homes receive an
environmental assessment.
The educational materials and disease management programs are
also customized by age group. They are broken down into three
groups: children, teens and adults. This multifaceted approach
gives members practical information about asthma and explains ways
to best manage their chronic condition. The pilot also aims to
strengthen the link between members and their physicians.
“We’re eager to test the interventions planned in this asthma
pilot. We believe they will actively engage our members in their
health care,” says Rawlins. “The goal is to help patients of all
ages improve control of their asthma. Keeping the condition ‘in
check’ can greatly improve the lives those who have to live with
asthma. We are testing ways to make sure patients have what they
need in order to follow the guidelines their doctors
recommend.”
Key success factors
The pilot program’s success will be determined by the health
outcomes of the patients, including improved medication compliance.
Specifically, the pilot aims to increase the use of patients’
asthma controller medications, as well as increase members’ visits
to their primary care physicians and asthma specialists. The pilot
also seeks to reduce avoidable, asthma-related emergency rooms
visits and in-patient hospital admissions.
“After examining the statistics related to the impact of asthma
on our 100,000 members in Delaware, we observed many of the same
disparities noted in the national statistics,” says Stan Lynch,
M.D., chief medical officer of Delaware Physicians Care. “For
example, African Americans have a several-fold increase over whites
in emergency room visits related to asthma. They also are much more
likely to be admitted to the hospital as an inpatient due to a
tendency in this population to not adhere to their doctors’
treatment guidelines, possibly due to a lack of understanding of
how to control their asthma. We are delighted to be able to address
some of these disparities by improving asthma care and outcomes
through this innovative program.”
Building on 10 years of addressing health disparities
The Delaware Physicians Care pilot builds on Aetna’s 10-year
history in combating health care disparities. The company announced
its racial and ethnic equality in health care Chairman’s Initiative
in 2001. The following year, Aetna’s pioneering step to begin the
voluntary collection of race and ethnicity data from members made
it one of the first insurers to gather such data. Currently, Aetna
has nearly six million active members who have volunteered this
information.
“We make every effort to ensure that all of our members receive
high-quality health care -- regardless of their race or ethnicity,”
says Rawlins. “Aetna is committed to addressing the persistent
challenges of disparities in health care for minorities. We know it
can lead to better health outcomes for these populations. We look
forward to the outcomes of this pilot and applying what we learn to
our broader membership.”
About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care
benefits companies, serving approximately 35.3 million people with
information and resources to help them make better informed
decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of
traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance
products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental,
behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical
management capabilities and health care management services for
Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals,
college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans,
governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and
expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.
About Delaware Physicians Care
Aetna administers Medicaid services to more than 1.2 million
members in 12 states, including 100,000 members statewide in
Delaware through Delaware Physicians Care. The plan began
administering care to Delaware Medicaid members in 2004 and has
been named one of the top Medicaid plans in the nation for three
years in a row by the National Committee for Quality Assurance
(NCQA). For more information about Delaware Physicians Care, go to
www.delawarephysicianscare.com.
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