National Jewish Health, headquartered in Denver, has been named by U.S. News and World Report magazine as the leading respiratory hospital in the country for the past 11 years. The High Plains Research Network (HPRN) is a collection of rural hospitals and communities committed to providing excellent rural health care by translating the best scientific evidence into every day clinical practice.  

   This program is under the direction of a full time rural health educator,  headquartered in the SECAHEC office, who has been trained to provide these services to health care professionals. Personnel in each practice will be provided with information on how to diagnosis and treat asthma and with counseling methods to educate patients on self management techniques including the effective use of prescribed medications. Physicians participating in the program will regularly examine asthma patients to measure their progress.  This data will be used to formulate improved diagnosis and treatment approaches in the future.              

  As part of the program, the staff of these practices will be encouraged to increase the use of spirometers to accurately measure a patients breathing capacity which can often help identify the condition. These devices will be provided to each practice. Also provided will be literature to be given to patients as well as peak flow meters that will permit them to measure their own breathing capacity at home.                  

  Another important goal of the program is to foster a cooperative effort between  medical practice staffs and the health educator with the mutual goal of improving the lives of people with asthma.