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Asthma is a chronic illness that affects more than 23 million adults in the United States. In addition to respiratory symptoms associated with the disease, individuals with asthma are also more likely to experience depression and anxiety. The BreathEasy team designed a mobile application built on the latest clinical guidelines for treatment and self-monitoring for patients with asthma. Patients with asthma used the application on smartphones to capture and report observations of daily living (ODLs) such as use of controller and rescue medications, asthma symptoms (including peak flow rates), depression and anxiety symptoms, encounters with asthma triggers, physical activity levels (including accelerometer based data), sleeping problems, and smoking. Clinicians used a web based dashboard with simple analysis and visualization tools that allowed them to quickly view the patients' data, evaluate their health statuses, and communicate changes in treatment or monitoring. This data collection contains the ODL data recorded by the patients.

This survey was conducted as part of the evaluation of the Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's signature effort to lift the overall quality of health care in 17 targeted communities, reduce racial and ethnic disparities and provide models of national reform. The survey was administered to adults with one or more of five chronic illnesses -- diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, asthma and depression -- in the AF4Q communities and a national sample residing in non-AF4Q communities to provide a basis for comparison between the AF4Q communities and the rest of the United States. Survey questions focused on patient activation; consumer knowledge of publicly available performance reports that highlight quality differences among physicians, hospitals, and health plans; the ability to be an effective consumer in the context of a physician visit; patient knowledge about her/his illness; skills and willingness to self-manage one's illness; the impact of insurance and payment models; and the relationship between out-of-pocket costs and health care utilization.

The National Study of Physician Organizations and the Management of Chronic Illness (NSPO) was designed to improve understanding of evidence-based care management processes (CMPs) as they relate to physician organizations (POs), that is, independent practice associations (IPAs) and medical groups. Since the first NSPO survey of physician organizations in 2000-2001 (NSPO1, archived as ICPSR 4455), considerable investments have been made by a number of different sources, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the California Healthcare Foundation, and The Commonwealth Fund, to bring about improved care for the chronically ill. This survey, the second NSPO survey of IPAs and medical groups (NSPO2), examined the extent to which the investments in quality improvement were translated into action. NSPO2 assessed the status of CMPs and preventive services use as well as their key drivers in 2006-2007 and the extent to which these factors have changed over time. As in the first NSPO survey, NSPO2 focused on the treatment of four chronic diseases: asthma, congestive heart failure (CHF), depression, and diabetes. Topics covered by the survey include practice type, size, age, ownership, and number of locations; clinical information systems; care management and clinical practice; activities of health insurance plans in chronic illness care; performance incentives; preventative care and health promotion; and organizational culture. This collection has two data files. The first file contains the NSPO2 survey data, while the second contains a crosswalk between the NSPO1 and NSPO2 case identification numbers which can be used to link the data of the POs that responded to both surveys. Altogether, 369 of the 1,104 POs that responded to NSPO1 also responded to NSPO2.

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Study of Small and Medium-sized Physician Practices (NSSMPP) was designed to provide information about physician practices with 1-19 physicians. The survey focused on the use of information technology and care management processes for four major chronic illnesses: asthma, congestive heart failure, depression, and diabetes. Other topics covered by the survey include practice type, size, ownership and the breakdown of patients by race and Hispanic origin; clinical preventative services and health promotion; health insurance plan activities in preventative care and care for patients with chronic illness; performance reporting and incentives; revenue sources and compensation methods; and organizational culture. NSSMPP was also designed to assist the RWJF-funded Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) project by providing baseline data about small and medium sized practices in the AF4Q sites. AF4Q was a national program that aimed to lift the quality of health care in 16 targeted communities, reduce racial and ethnic disparities in those communities and provide models for national reform. NSSMPP built on two previous studies -- the National Study of Physician Organizations and the Management of Chronic Illness (NSPO), 2000-2001 (ICPSR 4455) and the National Study of Physician Organizations and the Management of Chronic Illness II (NSPO2), 2006-2007 (ICPSR 29801) -- which collected information about medical groups and independent practice associations (IPAs) with 20 or more physicians.

This survey was conducted as part of the evaluation of the Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative, which is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's effort to lift the overall quality of health care in 17 targeted communities, reduce racial and ethnic disparities, and provide models of national reform. The survey was administered to adults with one or more of five chronic illnesses, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, asthma and depression, in the AF4Q communities and a national sample residing in non-AF4Q communities to provide a basis for comparison between the AF4Q communities and the rest of the United States. Survey questions focused on patient activation; consumer knowledge of publicly available performance reports that highlight quality differences among physicians, hospitals, and health plans; the ability to be an effective consumer in the context of a physician visit; patient knowledge about her/his illness; skills and willingness to self-manage one's illness; the impact of insurance and payment models; and the relationship between out-of-pocket costs and health care utilization. In 2011 the AF4Q evaluation team contracted with RTI International (RTI) to conduct the Aligning Forces for Quality Consumer Survey 2.0 (AF4Q 2.0).

The National Study of Physician Organizations and the Management of Chronic Illness (NSPO) examined relationships among physician organization characteristics and the implementation of care management processes (CMP) aimed at improving outcomes and reducing costs for the treatment of four chronic diseases: asthma, congestive heart failure (CHF), depression, and diabetes. To that end, NSPO conducted this national survey of medical groups and independent practice associations (IPA) with 20 or more physicians. An IPA is defined as an organization through which physicians contract with managed care plans. Examples of CMPs include evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, protocols and pathways, case and care management systems, and disease management, demand management, and health promotion programs. Interviews were conducted with the medical director, president, or chief executive officer of each surveyed physician organization. The survey collected data on (1) practice type, size, age, location, and ownership, (2) governance, management, and use of computerized data systems, (3) revenue and overall financial position, (4) physician compensation models, (5) relationships with health plans and degree of risk assumption, and (6) care management and clinical practice -- particularly in regard to asthma, CHF, depression, and diabetes.