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An Evaluation of an Adult Asthma BTS Collaborative and the Effect of Patient Self-Management
Schonlau M, Mangione-Smith R, Rosen M, Louis TM, Cretin S, Keeler E, Annals of Family Medicine, 2005 3: 200-208.

Research Objective: To examine whether a collaborative to improve asthma care positively influences process and outcomes of care in adult asthmatics.

Study Design: Post-intervention evaluation of 11 sites that chose to participate in the evaluation of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Breakthrough Series (BTS) Collaborative for asthma care. Control sites were identified for four of these sites.

Population Studied: : 185 adults with asthma with at least one asthma related visit in the prior 12 months in one of 15 primary care clinics: 11 collaborative participants and 4 control clinics.

Principal Findings: Patients in the intervention group were more likely than patients in the control group to monitor their peak flow (57% vs 24%, p=0.04) and to have a written action plan (43% vs 27%, p=0.047). Patients in the BTS collaborative were significantly more likely to be satisfied with provider communication (62% vs 39%, p=0.02).

Conclusions: The intervention improved some aspects of process of care. Patients benefited through increased satisfaction with communication. Follow-up of patients who participated in the intervention may have been too brief to detect significant improvement in the other health-related outcomes examined.

Presented at the AcademyHealth meeting by: Matthias Schonlau, RAND, at the Poster Session B, 7:30-8:45 am, June 8.