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Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154:92-93.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Minkovitz et al¹ report that hospital readmissions for asthma occur in children with greater disease severity. Now that's a "dog bites man" headline if I've ever heard one! The very occurrence of rehospitalization and perhaps even initial hospitalizations should be considered de facto evidence for more severe asthma. The issue then is, what prevents both hospitalization and relapse from asthma? Minkovitz et al go on to speculate that "targeted case management" and "adoption and implementation of critical pathways" would improve outcome.¹(p730) They state that it is "possible that standardized forms and protocols contribute to improved medical documentation and discharge planning" and look to "managed care plans . . . emphasis on preventive care and decreased costs to reduce asthma admissions."¹(p730) Unfortunately, these platitudes are accompanied by no specifics and are not supported by any references to actual data.

Case management and quality assurance techniques have been used to . . . [Full Text of this Article]