New Jersey In-Home Asthma Intervention Pilot Project: Jersey Shore University Medical Center

Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Project Period: 
2018
-
2020
Funding Amount:
$210,000
Program Area:
Population Health
Geographic Area: 
Middlesex County, 
Monmouth County, 
Ocean County

Jersey Shore University Medical Center is an academic medical center that offers services in all major medical disciplines, including a trauma care, cardiology, pediatrics, orthopedics, and cancer care.  

This pilot project aims to improve asthma outcomes and reduce overall healthcare costs for children ages 2 to 17 years in Monmouth, Middlesex, and Union Counties who are enrolled in NJFamily Care, New Jersey’s Medicaid program. The project provides an evidence-based in-home asthma intervention designed to reduce environmental triggers that exacerbate the condition. The intervention consists of three home visits, conducted over two to three months, and a follow-up phone call six months after the final visit. Community health workers provide the in-home visits, which include an environmental assessment; the provision of supplies proven to reduce exposure to known triggers, such as dust and pests; asthma education; and asthma care coordination with the children’s primary care provider.

Jersey Shore University Medical Center is one of four sites participating in this asthma pilot intervention. The multi-site project is a partnership with the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH). NJDOH is supporting a cost evaluation that will be conducted by The Center for State Health Policy. The evaluation will assess whether the intervention contributes to overall savings in health care costs by reducing avoidable hospitalizations. In addition, the project supports Health Resources in Action, which is providing technical assistance to the four sites as they implement the intervention and is conducting a programmatic evaluation of the project. The other sites participating in the initiative are:

Health Coalition of Passaic County

Rutgers School of Nursing

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Department of Pediatrics

Henry J. Austin Health Center

Learn more about Jersey Shore University Medical Center.