Pharmacist Resources
Pharmacists can help asthma patients by educating them about how to keep their asthma under control, and how to tell if it isn’t.
- Rules of Two™ for quick assessment of asthma control Ask, do you:
-Take your “quick-relief inhaler” more than two times a week?
-Awaken at night with asthma more than two times a month?
-Refill your “quick-relief inhaler” more than two times a year? - Teach how to use their inhalers the right way, including the use of a spacer/valved-holding chamber
- Teach when to use their long term controllers and rescue inhalers
- Review their triggers and how to avoid them to prevent symptoms
Spacers/valved-holding chambers
Spacers/valved-holding chambers are an important part of medication delivery for most quick-relief and long term control asthma medications.
Visit our medication page to see which MDIs need a spacer. Many brands of these devices and their masks are now on the Medicaid Plan Common Formulary (pages 117-119) so keeping the right ones in stock is easier. All of the Medicaid plans allow up to 4 spacers/valved-holding chambers per year with no prior authorization.
Many peak flow meters are also included on the Common Formulary (page 117).
Print this spacer infographic and give it to your Medicaid patients to help them understand how to get a spacer.
Patient Information about Asthma Medications & Devices
- General information about asthma medications and devices
- How to use an inhaler with a spacer/valved-holding chamber
- How to use a diskus inhaler
- How to use a peak flow meter
- Handouts on nebulizers, asthma control, steroid safety, triggers, MDI law, devices and more
Pharmacist’s Asthma Report (PAR)
The Pharmacist’s Asthma Report (PAR) is a tool to help improve communication between pharmacists and clinicians about their patients’ medication use and (optional) asthma control. It can be customized with the pharmacy’s logo and contact information, and uses a writeable pdf with drop down menus and check boxes that make it quick and easy to fill out and send. Choose from 3 versions to find the one that works best for your pharmacy:
- Original PAR, with basic comprehensive asthma control supporting information at the bottom
- PAR Light, with a more simplified asthma control section at the bottom
- PAR Clinic, to be used in a clinic setting where all patients with asthma are being assessed, not just those who have been flagged for inappropriate asthma medication issues