Measures for decreasing inpatient stay in childhood asthma

Traditionally, studies of asthma have concentrated on interventions that we re mainly pharmaceutical and outcomes that were usually based on pulmonary function testing. More recently, there has been increasing emphasis on orga nisational procedures that can enhance the delivery of effective care, and outcomes based more on the clinical than the physiological. Minimum length of stay is targeted as one outcome of benefit for patients and their famili es. The methods of decreasing hospital stay for asthmatic children which ha ve been proposed and studied are reviewed.