The Electronic Asthma Management System

Asthma is a common and potentially fatal chronic disease. An asthma action plan (AAP) is a written plan produced by a physician for a patient with asthma, to provide education and guidelines for self-management of worsening asthma symptoms. Studies have shown that AAPs effectively improve asthma control, but physicians fail to provide AAPs due to lack of time and adequate skills. Physicians also often fail to determine if their patients have good asthma control, and to adjust medications in response to patients' control level. In a pilot study investigators developed and tested a computerized tool to help physicians to determine if their patients' asthma is well controlled, advise them on medication changes required according to the current level of control, and automatically generate an electronic version of the AAP, all based on patient responses to a questionnaire completed by patients on a tablet computer. In the pilot, investigators found that the tablet computers add a level of complexity to clinic flow. In this study patients will have the ability to complete the questionnaire on their smartphones, through a pre-downloaded app. Patients will also have access to an electronic asthma self-management tool called Breathe through which they can view their AAP and other asthma educational information. The investigators hope that this system will eliminate the barriers that physicians face in determining asthma control, adjusting medications, and delivering an AAP, and will increase the frequency with which physicians are able to achieve these goals in patients with asthma. The objectives of the study are to determine the impact of this system on asthma action plan delivery by primary care physicians, the frequency of checking control level, and the frequency and appropriateness of asthma medication changes (in accordance with control). The investigators will also attempt to determine the impact of the system on hospitalisations, emergency room (ER) visits, unscheduled visits to the doctor, total visits to the doctor, days off work or school, nocturnal asthma symptoms, daytime asthma symptoms, daytime rescue puffer use, and quality of life, and to measure physicians' perceptions of and satisfaction with the system.