ABSTRACT
Most healthcare for asthma patients takes place within primary care (PC) (Moth et al. 2008). Unlike specialists who can focus on one particular disease, PC clinicians must optimize the management of a person’s asthma despite competing demands from the patient’s co-morbidities and complex psycho-social factors. This chapter examines the quality of such care. Section One defi nes asthma and PC, and briefl y outlines common approaches to quality measurement. Section Two presents key fi ndings from recent published literature on the quality of care for asthma patients within PC practice and discusses potential reasons for sub-standard performance against clinical guidelines.
