The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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It is recognised that medical tests are overused in primary care; however, it is unclear how best to reduce their use. ⋯ This review indicates that it is possible to reduce the use of low-value medical tests in primary care, especially by using multiple components including reminders, audit/feedback, and patient-targeted interventions. To implement these strategies widely in primary care settings, more research is needed not only to investigate their effectiveness, but also to examine adverse events, cost-effectiveness, and patient-reported outcomes.
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Observational Study
Variability in size and characteristics of primary care networks in England: observational study.
General practices in England have been encouraged by national policy to work together on a larger scale by creating primary care networks (PCNs). Policy guidance recommended that they should serve populations of 30 000-50 000 people to perform effectively. ⋯ More than 40% of the PCNs were not of the recommended size, and there was substantial variation in their composition and characteristics. This high variability between PCNs is a risk to their future performance.