Easy Breathing©

Asthma affects one out of every eight children living in Connecticut. Many children who have asthma are either underdiagnosed or undertreated.

Our nationally recognized Easy Breathing© program helps to improve diagnosis rates of asthma and also helps to create a standardized approach to help keep asthma under control. Easy Breathing is an evidence-based asthma management program that translates national asthma guidelines into a usable format for pediatricians, primary care practitioners, and family medicine practitioners.

Connecticut Children’s introduced Easy Breathing to pediatricians in the Hartford area in 1998. It has since expanded statewide with more than 330 pediatricians in more than 90 practices in Connecticut using the program. It is also available to children in other states and has been adapted for use in schools through our Easy Breathing for Schools program.

To date, more than 150,000 individuals have been screened through Easy Breathing. As a result, more than 41,000 have been diagnosed with asthma.

Children who are enrolled in Easy Breathing experience decreased urgent care visits, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations related to asthma. These decreases translate into improved care and sustained cost-savings to Medicaid for children with asthma.

The Asthma Center provides the tools and training that primary care practices need to administer Easy Breathing. Through onsite and web-based training by Connecticut Children’s staff, primary care providers can learn how to provide better asthma care to children.

Easy Breathing tools are designed to:

• Improve recognition of asthma
• Assist clinicians in developing a systematic, standardized approach to asthma management in their practice
• Decrease the need for unnecessary medical services and reduce health care costs for people with asthma

For training or to learn more about the Easy Breathing program, contact Jessica Hollenbach, PhD, AE-C at 860.837.5333.

Easy Breathing for Schools

Easy Breathing© for Schools is a nurse-centered school-based asthma program designed to identify and manage care for students with asthma who are at high risk for adverse outcomes. Learn more about Easy Breathing for Schools »

Additional services:

• Asthma educational materials – Easy Breathing has developed and validated asthma educational materials for clinicians to distribute to their patients. These materials are available in English and Spanish. Please contact the Asthma Center for materials.
• Maintenance of Certification – Easy Breathing is approved by the American Board of Pediatrics as a Quality Improvement project to fulfill Part 4 of Maintenance of Certification. Physicians who complete Easy Breathing Part 4 MOC will receive 25 points towards recertification and 8 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
• Continuing Medical Education – The Easy Breathing training qualifies as 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians will be awarded one credit; physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses will have one credit approved for award.
• Spirometry – Easy Breathing offers spirometry training for practices interested in learning how to conduct and interpret spirometry tests. For training, contact Jessica Hollenbach, PhD, AE-C 860.837.5333.