Integrating User Preferences for Asthma Tools and Clinical Guidelines Into Primary Care Electronic Medical Records:...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Respiratory Medicine
• Primary Care

Background:

• Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease with significant healthcare burdens.
• Gaps in asthma diagnosis and management adherence lead to poor patient outcomes.
• Electronic tools (eTools) integrated into electronic medical records (EMRs) offer a knowledge translation opportunity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine optimal integration methods for evidence-based asthma eTools into primary care EMRs in Ontario and Canada.
• To enhance adherence to asthma management guidelines.
• To establish methods for measuring and monitoring performance using eTools.

Main Methods:

• Two focus groups with physicians, allied health professionals, and a patient participant were conducted.
• Discussions explored optimal integration of asthma eTools into EMRs using a semistructured format.
• Qualitative thematic analysis of discussions and quantitative analysis of questionnaire responses were employed.

Main Results:

• Seven key themes emerged: outcome-oriented design, stakeholder trust, communication, end-user focus, efficiency, adaptability, and workflow integration.
• Five key asthma performance indicators were identified: smoking cessation, objective monitoring, ED visits/hospitalizations, asthma control assessment, and action plan presence.
• The Asthma Action Plan Wizard and Electronic Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire were deemed most useful.

Conclusions:

• Asthma eTools integrated into primary care EMRs present a significant opportunity to improve guideline adherence and performance monitoring.
• Identified strategies and themes can overcome barriers to eTool integration.
• Findings will guide future implementation of beneficial asthma eTools and indicators.