Quality improvement in primary health care using computerised journal, exemplified by a smoking cessation programme for diabetic patients

Abstract

Objective - To study the possibility of using the computerised journal for quality improvement in diabetes care. Design - The computerised journal was used to reach all diabetic smokers aged 30 -75 years and to invite them to a structured smoking cessation programme. The follow-up time was 18 months. Setting - Habo, a Swedish community with 9600 inhabitants, with one primary health care centre. Subjects - 147 subjects, aged 30 - 75 years, were registered with the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in the computerised journal at the primary health care centre. Altogether 25 of these patients were registered as smokers in the journal. All of them were invited to a smoking cessation group. Results - Information about smoking habits in the journal was available for all but 11%. After 18 months' follow-up, 9 of the 14 patients (64%) who started in the smoking cessation group had become non-smokers. Of those 11 subjects who did not attend the group, 6 had stopped smoking during the follow-up time in spite of not participating in the structured programme. Conclusion ? The computerised journal is a useful tool for quality improvement, giving the opportunity for directed preventive efforts on selected patient groups.