Nadine Mokhallati, MD, Pulmonology, is in the midst of a project that received a $55,460 grant from the Health Forward Foundation.

The project, “A school-based telemedicine program for students with asthma in targeted Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS),” aims to improve access to pediatric pulmonary care for Kansas City children with asthma, especially children of color who are disproportionately affected by this disease.

The project, which received the funding in 2021, is working with four Kansas City Public Schools where it was determined asthma prevalence and severity is high.

“Numerous studies have shown that school-based programs for asthma, augmented using telemedicine, are evidence-based and improve health outcomes,” wrote Dr. Mokhallati in her application, siting three previous studies.

The team is using portable telemedicine robots in school nurse offices, which links students and families with Children’s Mercy pulmonologists.  Students are enrolled in the program at the start of the school year with parental permission.

By providing a school-based telemedicine program, Dr. Mokhallati and her team want to improve child and family observance of follow-up visits and make childhood asthma care more convenient and accessible for families, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Extending this platform to KCPS students and families, surrounded by nurses and staff they know, offers a vital evidence-based resource,” she said.

By supporting this program, Dr. Mokhallati explains that it will lead to ongoing and significant offset in costs for the community including reduced health care costs, caregiver lost wages, and school absenteeism.

In their first few years of the program, the team hopes to achieve improved asthma control test scores for the students participating in the program, see a decrease in their oral steroid requirement, a decrease in healthcare utilization or emergency room visits for asthma, and a decrease in school absences.