Akilah Jefferson, M.D., M.Sc., a TRI KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Award scholar, has been published in the journal Pediatrics, with an article titled, “Asthma Quality Measurement and Adverse Outcomes in Medicaid-Enrolled Children.”
Jefferson and her coauthors found that a key tool used to evaluate pediatric risk of asthma-related adverse events may be a poor method for guiding pediatric population health management programs across diverse settings. The findings related to the tool, called the asthma medication ratio (AMR), were based on analyses using the Arkansas All-Payer Claims Database to identify Medicaid-enrolled children.
“AMR performed poorly in identifying risk of adverse outcomes among Medicaid-enrolled children with asthma,” the article concluded, noting that new population health frameworks are needed to accurately identify children with asthma and improve asthma management and outcomes.
Jefferson is an assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology.
The TRI KL2 Scholars Program provides promising young clinical and translational investigators the training, mentoring and protected time to develop an independent research program. Learn more about the program here.