People with asthma use physicians' offices, pharmacies, hospitals, and emergency departments to meet their needs. The preferred sources of treatment are physician and pharmacy.
Appropriate use of these sources can eliminate or substantially reduce the need for emergency room visits or hospital admissions. In fact, many emergency room and inpatient asthma encounters can be viewed as provider and patient management breakdowns. Because these two service locations are the most expensive encounters, minimizing their use represents the most efficient use of the health care system.
Note: Patients who had Emergency Department visits and were admitted to the hospital are included in the Hospitalizations data.
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