Family practice
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Comparative Study
A comparison of chronic illness care quality in US and UK family medicine practices prior to pay-for-performance initiatives.
The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) has contributed to modest improvements in chronic illness care in the UK. US policymakers have proposed similar pay-for-performance (P4P) approaches to improve care. Since previous studies have not compared chronic illness care quality in US and UK primary care practices prior to the QOF, the relative preparedness of practices to respond to P4P incentives is unknown. ⋯ Following National Health Service (NHS) investment in primary care preparedness, but prior to the QOF, UK practices provided more standardized care but did not achieve better intermediate outcomes than a sample of typical US practices. US policymakers should focus on reducing variation in care documentation to ensure the effectiveness of P4P efforts while the NHS should focus on moving from process documentation to better patient outcomes.
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GPs with a special interest and with specific training in palliative medicine (GP advisors) supported professional carers (mostly GPs) through a telephone advisory service. Each telephone call was formally documented on paper and subsequently evaluated. ⋯ GPs caring for patients dying at home encountered complex clinical dilemmas in end-of-life care (including palliative sedation therapy and euthanasia). They valued practical advice from, and open discussion with, GP advisors. The advice often helped the GP find solutions to the patient's problems that did not require deliberately foreshortening life.
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To establish situations in which family physicians (FPs) consider pulse oximetry a valuable addition to their clinical patient assessment; to explore pulse oximetry results (SpO(2)) when used by FPs in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); to explore associations between SpO(2) and other markers of COPD severity. ⋯ FPs report a wide range of indications for pulse oximetry in acute as well as non-acute situations. In COPD, pulse oximetry appears to be especially useful in patients with severe disease and worsening of symptoms. Pulse oximetry may have a role in the monitoring of patients with COPD with exercise-related dyspnoea.
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The implementation of guideline recommendations in primary care has become widespread. The treatment of low back pain (LBP) has followed suite. Research shows that the use of LBP guidelines is influenced by the believability of the underlying evidence, the GPs consultation style and uncertainties surrounding diagnosis and treatment. ⋯ GPs acknowledge guideline recommendations but divergence occurs in implementation. This is due to GPs focussing on the whole person-not just one condition-and the importance of maintaining the doctor-patient relationship, which relies on effective negotiation of mutual perceptions and expectations. Further exploration on how consultation processes can be constructed to effectively combine evidence with patient-centred care is needed.
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patients who present with abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) in primary care and no obvious symptoms can be difficult to manage. ⋯ All LFTs were predictive markers for liver disease as well as general ill health, although sensitivity was poor. Most patients with abnormal LFTs had no later formal diagnosis of liver disease within the study period. The time taken to develop liver disease in these patients provides opportunity to intervene.