Bmc Fam Pract
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Comparative Study
Efficiency as a determinant of loyalty among users of a Community of Clinical Practice: a comparative study between the implementation and consolidation phases.
A community of clinical practice called the Online Communication Tool between Primary and Hospital Care (ECOPIH) was created to enable primary care and specialist care professionals to communicate with each other in order to resolve real clinical cases, thereby improving communication and coordination between care levels. The present work seeks to analyse whether ECOPIH makes it possible to reduce the number of referrals. To that end, the objectives are: (1) To find out the degree of loyalty among ECOPIH users, by comparing the medical professionals' profiles in the tool's implementation phase to those in its consolidation phase. (2) To evaluate the degree of fulfilment of users' expectations, by establishing the determining factors that had an influence on the physicians' intention to use ECOPIH in the implementation phase and observing whether its use had an effective, direct impact on the number of patient referrals that primary care physicians made to specialist care professionals. ⋯ The use of a community of clinical practice by primary care and specialist care professionals helps to reduce the number of referrals among medical professionals.
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Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly used to assess impact of disease and treatment on quality of life and symptoms; however, their use in primary care is fragmented. We aimed to understand how PROMs are currently being used in primary care, the barriers and facilitators of this use and if appropriate how it might be optimised. ⋯ Implementation of PROMs in primary care requires integration with clinical systems, a bottom-up approach to PROM selection and system design involving meaningful consultation with patients and primary care clinicians and training/support for use.
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Observational Study
Anemia management in non-menopausal women in a primary care setting: a prospective evaluation of clinical practice.
The study aimed to analyze anemia management in non-pregnant, and non-menopausal women aged from 18 to 50 years old, in a French primary care setting. ⋯ Our study highlights that, in the absence of specific national guidelines for anemia management in non-pregnant, non-menopausal women in primary care settings, French GPs undergo various clinical management strategies leading to a heterogeneous, sometimes inappropriate follow-up. Women with iron deficiency were prescribed higher daily iron supplementation than recommended, according to new evidence, suggesting a maximal daily dose of 50 mg of elementary iron in a context of Hepcidin up-regulation in the case of an iron overload. Additional longitudinal studies with a bigger sample size and randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm our results and to elaborate national guidelines.
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Low job satisfaction, severe burnout and high turnover intention are found to be prevalent among the primary care providers (PCPs) in township health centers (THCs), but their associations have received scant attention in the literature. In light of this, this study aims to examine the relationships between job satisfaction, burnout and turnover intention, and explore the predictors of turnover intention with a view to retaining PCPs in rural China. ⋯ Plagued by low job satisfaction and severe burnout, the PCPs in rural China may have high turnover intentions. Job satisfaction had not only negative direct effects on burnout and turnover intention, but also an indirect effect on turnover intention through burnout as a mediator. Targeted strategies should be taken to motivate and retain the PCPs.
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It remains to be determined whether collaborative strategies to improve and sustain overall health in patients with heart failure (HF) are currently being adopted by health care professionals. We surveyed primary care physicians, nurses and allied health care professionals in Southwestern Ontario regarding how they currently manage HF patients and how they perceive limitations, barriers and challenges in achieving optimal management in these patients. ⋯ Most respondents indicated HF management was satisfactory, however, a minority did identify some areas for improvement (communication systems, work more collaborative as a team, education resources and access to specialists). Future research should consider these factors in developing strategies to enhance primary care involvement in co-management of HF patients, within collaborative and multidisciplinary systems of care.