Effects of flow sheet implementation on physician performance in the management of asthmatic patients.
OBJECTIVE
This project focused on increasing compliance, in a large family practice group, with quality indicators for the management of asthma. The objective was to determine if use of a flow sheet incorporating the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines could improve compliance with those guidelines if the flow sheet was placed in patients' medical records.


METHODS
After review and selection of 14 clinical quality indicators, physicians in the practice implemented a flow sheet as an intervention. These flow sheets were inserted into the records of 122 randomly selected patients with asthma. Medical records were reviewed before the flow sheets were placed in the records, and again approximately 6 months later, to determine if there was a change in compliance with the quality indicators.


RESULTS
Improvement of documentation was demonstrated in 13 of the 14 quality indicators.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that compliance with asthma management quality indicators can improve with the use of a flow sheet.
Ruoff
Gary
G
Department of Family Practice, Michigan State University, Kalamazoo 49009, USA. gryruof@aol.com
D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy*; D019468:Disease Management; D004282:Documentation; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006123:Group Practice / Q000592:standards; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D015146:Midwestern United States; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care