Bmc Health Serv Res
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2007
Motives and preferences of general practitioners for new collaboration models with medical specialists: a qualitative study.
Collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists has been the focus of many collaborative care projects during the past decade. Unfortunately, quite a number of these projects failed. This raises the question of what motivates GPs to initiate and continue participating with medical specialists in new collaborative care models. The following two questions are addressed in this study: What motivates GPs to initiate and sustain new models for collaborating with medical specialists? What kind of new collaboration models do GPs suggest? ⋯ Developing personal relationships with specialists appeared to be one of the dominant motives for increased collaboration. Once the relationships have been formed, an informal network with occasional professional contact seemed sufficient. Although GPs are interested in increasing their knowledge, once they have reached a certain level of expertise, they shift their focus to another specialty. The preferences for new collaboration models are diverse. A possible explanation for the differences in the preferences is that professionals are more knowledge driven than organisation driven as the acquiring of new knowledge is considered more important than the route by which this is achieved. A new collaboration model seems a way to acquire knowledge. Once this is achieved the importance of a model possibly diminishes, whereas the professional relationships last.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2007
Integrated obesity care management system -implementation and research protocol.
Nearly 50% of Canadians are overweight and their number is increasing rapidly. The majority of obese subjects are treated by primary care physicians (PCPs) who often feel uncomfortable with the management of obesity. The current research proposal is aimed at the development and implementation of an innovative, integrated, interdisciplinary obesity care management system involving both primary and secondary care professionals. ⋯ This project is relevant to health system's decision-makers who are confronted with an important increase in the prevalence of obesity. It is therefore critical to develop strategies allowing the management of obesity in the 1st line setting. Results of this research project could therefore influence health care organization in the field of obesity but also eventually for other chronic diseases.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2007
The implementation of the Medical Regulation Office and Mobile Emergency Attendance System and its impact on the gravity profile of non-traumatic afflictions treated in a University Hospital: a research study.
The public health system of Brazil is structured by a network of increasing complexity, but the low resolution of emergency care at pre-hospital units and the lack of organization of patient flow overloaded the hospitals, mainly the ones of higher complexity. The knowledge of this phenomenon induced Ribeirão Preto to implement the Medical Regulation Office and the Mobile Emergency Attendance System. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of these services on the gravity profile of non-traumatic afflictions in a University Hospital. ⋯ The implementation of the Medical Regulation and Mobile Emergency Attendance System contributed to directing patients with higher gravity scores to the Emergency Care Unit, demonstrating the potential of these services for hierarchical structuring of pre-hospital networks and referrals.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2007
Do the UK government's new Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) scores adequately measure primary care performance? A cross-sectional survey of routine healthcare data.
General practitioners' remuneration is now linked directly to the scores attained in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). The success of this approach depends in part on designing a robust and clinically meaningful set of indicators. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which measures of health observed in practice populations are correlated with their QOF scores, after accounting for the established associations between health outcomes and socio-demographics. ⋯ The associations between QOF scores and emergency admissions and mortality were small and inconsistent, whilst the impact of socio-economic deprivation on the outcomes was much stronger. These results have implications for the use of target-based remuneration of general practitioners and emphasise the need to tackle inequalities and improve the health of disadvantaged groups and the population as a whole.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Jan 2007
Practice size, caseload, deprivation and quality of care of patients with coronary heart disease, hypertension and stroke in primary care: national cross-sectional study.
Reports of higher quality care by higher-volume secondary care providers have fuelled a shift of services from smaller provider units to larger hospitals and units. In the United Kingdom, most patients are managed in primary care. Hence if larger practices provide better quality of care; this would have important implications for the future organization of primary care services. We examined the association between quality of primary care for cardiovascular disease achieved by general practices in England and Scotland by general practice caseload, practice size and area based deprivation measures, using data from the New General Practitioner (GP) Contract. ⋯ The volume-outcome relationship found in hospital settings is not seen between practices in the UK in management of cardiovascular disorders in primary care. Further work is warranted to explain apparently poorer quality achievement in some aspects of cardiovascular management relating to initial diagnosis and management among practices in deprived areas, smaller practices and those with a smaller caseload.