ACE = Asthma Comparative Effectiveness. Comparative effectiveness research studies an intervention (like a new method or toolkit) to see if it has a positive, neutral, or negative impact.
From 2010-2013, our research team evaluated a shared decision making toolkit to help reduce hospitalizations and ER visits by asthma patients. The toolkit, pictured here, was tested in six practices (pediatric, family medicine, and internal medicine) within Carolinas HealthCare System. The toolkit was adapted for children, Spanish-speaking patients, and low health literacy.
The study examined the patient outcomes of asthma-related ER visits and hospitalizations by patients from the six enrolled practices. The patients who received the full shared decision making toolkit were hospitalized half as often as before the toolkit. The number of times they visited the ER for asthma complications decreased by 42%.
See the paper here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4219101/