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Establishing a Clinic

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Establishing a Severe Asthma Clinic

Systematic and organised care for individuals with severe asthma leads to improved outcomes. An organised model of care facilitates multidisciplinary and multidimensional assessment and management. Specialised asthma centres are an effective way to deliver this care, particularly in an environment of limited resources.

Dedicated centres provide a venue for the confirmation of a severe asthma diagnosis (McDonald et al. 2011, van der Meer et al. 2016). They provide a setting to optimise self-management and treatment and to assess and treat triggers and comorbidities.

Multidimensional assessment of severe asthma leads to improved quality of life, improved asthma control and reduced exacerbations (Clark et al. 2017). Specialist centres provide access to add-on treatments, including trials of novel therapies. The severe asthma clinic also provides important opportunities for clinical training and research (McDonald et al. 2011).

Key Points:

Systematic and organised care for individuals with severe asthma leads to improved outcomes
A dedicated severe asthma clinic is a way to provide this care
Developing a business case will assist in determining what is required for the severe asthma clinic
Multidisciplinary team management is regarded as best practice for many chronic diseases
In addition to improved patient care, severe asthma clinics can provide career development pathways and specialisation opportunities for healthcare professionals from a variety of fields

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