A Breath of Fresh Air

	Smoking Cessation
	Monitoring Asthma
	Asthma Action Plans

 

Have you ever thought that the demands of controlling your child’s asthma, your asthma, or COPD are overwhelming? Many people with these conditions have thoughts such as:

• I can’t participate in the activities that I want
  to do.
  
• I don’t have time to go to a doctor’s appointment.
  
• I can’t check breathing capacity all the time.
  
• I keep forgetting to take my medication.
  
• I never know whether I can exercise or not.
  
• I don’t know if I can quit smoking.
  
• I’m afraid I’ll have to go to the hospital or emergency room again.
  
• Using my controller medication and understanding the role other medications can play in wellness are just too difficult.

Understanding Respiratory Health

UPMC Health Plan offers a comprehensive respiratory health management program that focuses on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Asthma is a disease of the lungs in which the airways become blocked or narrowed. This can cause shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing. Severe asthma episodes may require emergency treatment to restore normal breathing.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of lung diseases including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. COPD causes airway obstruction that interferes with normal breathing and is not totally reversible.

Consider these asthma and COPD statistics:

An estimated 20 million people in the United States have asthma, including 6.3 million children. Asthma’s effects are particularly severe among school-aged children, accounting for more that 14 million missed school days due to illness. It is estimated that as many as 24 million adults in the United States are affected by COPD. COPD is easily diagnosed with a simple test, and treatment requires a careful and thoughtful evaluation by a physician.

The good news: In most cases, asthma and COPD can be controlled with treatment, and people with asthma or COPD can often live a normal and active life.

Program Overview

Our respiratory health management program strives to ensure that our members with asthma have regular physician visits and consistently use prescribed medication and inhalers to keep their asthma in control. For those members with COPD, we focus on reducing risk factors, managing stable COPD, and managing flare-ups.

Enrolled members receive reminders for annual checkups, the MyHealth Insight Newsletter, postcard reminders for flu and pneumonia vaccinations, and information about how to access MyHealth OnLine, our 24/7 online member resource. Through this online self-service center, members have access to health-related educational materials, resources, and interactive tools to help them manage their condition.

If your condition requires it, you will receive all of the benefits listed above, plus monthly or weekly telephone calls from your personal care manager to monitor your progress. You will also receive additional educational materials, a welcome packet, a quality-of-life survey, a satisfaction survey, and an asthma or COPD action plan.

Take Charge of Your Respiratory Health

Are you ready to take action? Your personal care manager can help you:

• Identify the goals that are important to you.
  
• Create a plan to achieve your goals.
  
• Achieve your goals by providing education and resources that support your plan.
  
• Get answers about your health.