Implementing an Asthma Clinical Practice Guideline in Primary Care

Background: Asthma is a common chronic illness, affecting more than 300 million people worldwide. Asthma is primarily diagnosed and managed in a primary care setting. If ineffectively managed, asthma can reduce quality of life and create economic as well as health care system burden. Inconsistent management of asthma among primary care providers leads to variable health outcomes among patients. Methods: A quality improvement project was developed and implemented to enhance providers' adherence to published guidelines for the management of asthma and improve providers' clinical practice. Clinicians' knowledge, practices, and comfort with treating asthmatic patients were assessed before and after the project. A clinical practice guideline (CPG) was created using published evidence-based best practices for asthma management. Clinicians were educated regarding the CPG prior to implementation and incorporated into the electronic health record (EHR). An EHR audit was performed pre- and post- implementation to determine if providers' adherence to published guidelines improved for managing asthma. Results: The post-implementation survey showed that provider knowledge, practices and comfort improved with the use of the CPG. The EHR audit showed improved provider adherence to published guidelines and more consistent clinical practices following the implementation of the CPG. Conclusions: A clinical practice guideline was effective in changing providers' adherence to evidence- based best practices for asthma treatment as well as improving consistency in clinical practice. A larger study implementing the CPG needs to be conducted health system-wide to determine if it also improves clinical outcomes of patients.