Does GP Practice Size Matter? GP Practice Size and the Quality of Primary Care

ObjectiveCurrent healthcare reform in China has an overall goal of strengthening primary care and establishing a family practice system based on contract services. The objective of this study was to determine whether contracting a general practitioner (GP) could improve quality of primary care.DesignA cross-sectional study using two-stage sampling conducted from June to September 2014. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to control for confounding between patients with and without contracted GP.SettingThree community health centres in Guangzhou, China.Participants698 patients aged 18–89 years.Main outcome measuresThe quality of primary care was measured using a validated Chinese version of primary care assessment tool (PCAT). Eight domains are included (first contact utilisation, accessibility, continuity, comprehensiveness, coordination, family-centredness, community orientation and cultural competence from patient’s perceptions).ResultsA total of 692 effective samples were included for data analysis. After PSM, 94 pairs of patients were matched between the patients with and without contracted GPs. The total PCAT score, continuity (3.12 vs 2.68, p<0.01), comprehensiveness (2.31 vs 2.04, p<0.01) and family-centredness (2.11 vs 1.79, p<0.01) were higher in patients who contracted GPs than those did not. However, the domains of first contact utilisation (2.74 vs 2.87, p=0.14) and coordination (1.76 vs 1.93, p<0.05) were lower among patients contracted with GPs than in those who did not.ConclusionOur findings demonstrated that patients who had a contracted GP tend to experience higher quality of primary care. Our study provided evidence for health policies aiming to promote the implementation of family practice contract services. Our results also highlight further emphases on the features of primary care, first contact services and coordination services in particular.

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Municipal Management, Infrastructure And Perception Of Users: A Description Of National Program For Improving Access And Quality Of Primary Care In The Brazilian Semiarid

International Archives of Medicine ◽

10.3823/2515 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Marília Gomes De Sousa Bezerra ◽

Roseanne De Sousa Nobre ◽

Artemizia Francisca De Sousa ◽

Maísa De Lima Claro

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Unified Health System ◽

Quality Of Primary Care ◽

Brazilian Semiarid ◽

Municipal Management ◽

Access And Quality ◽

Objective Description

Introduction: The Ministry of Health with the aim of improving the service provided by the Unified Health System has been creating work tools to identify which points need to receive more attention to be optimized. Objective: Description of the role of municipal management, infrastructure assessment and perception of users of primary care. Method: Cross-sectional and descriptive study, conducted with Basic Units of Piauí municipality in 2015. The data were represented by tables. Results: 90% of the units reported receiving support for the planning and organization of the work process. Only 14, 81% of the units have equipment and supplies for proper operation. Users recommend the service in 92,62% of the cases. Conclusion: despite the precarious structure of the basic units of the county, the population still recognizes them as the best care.

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Patient–Physician Connectedness and Quality of Primary Care

Annals of Internal Medicine ◽

10.7326/0003-4819-150-5-200903030-00008 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 150 (5) ◽

pp. 325 ◽

Cited By ~ 95

Author(s):

Steven J. Atlas

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Quality Of Primary Care

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Quality of Primary Care in England with the Introduction of Pay for Performance

New England Journal of Medicine ◽

10.1056/nejmsr065990 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 357 (2) ◽

pp. 181-190 ◽

Cited By ~ 237

Author(s):

Stephen Campbell ◽

David Reeves ◽

Evangelos Kontopantelis ◽

Elizabeth Middleton ◽

Bonnie Sibbald ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Pay For Performance ◽

Quality Of Primary Care

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Development and validation of the Vietnamese Primary Care Assessment Tool – provider version

Primary Health Care Research & Development ◽

10.1017/s1463423619000458 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nguyen Thi Hoa ◽

Anselme Derese ◽

Jeffrey F. Markuns ◽

Nguyen Minha Tam ◽

Wim Peersman

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Health Care ◽

Internal Consistency ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Care Quality ◽

Quality Of Primary Care ◽

Care Assessment ◽

The Impact ◽

Primary Care Assessment Tool

Abstract Aim: To adapt the provider version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) for Vietnam and determine its internal consistency and validity. Background: There is a growing need to measure and explore the impact of various characteristics of health care systems on the quality of primary care. It would provide the best evidence for policy makers if these evaluations come from both the demand and supply sides of the health care sector. Comparatively more researchers have studied primary care quality from the consumer perspective than from the provider’s perspective. This study aims at the latter. Method: Our study translated and adapted the PCAT provider version (PCAT PE) into a Vietnamese version, after which a cross-sectional survey was conducted to examine the feasibility, internal consistency and validity of the Vietnamese PCAT provider version (VN PCAT PE). All general doctors working at 152 commune health centres in Thua Thien Hue province had been selected to participate in the survey. Findings: The VN PCAT PE is an instrument for evaluation of primary care in Vietnam with 116 items comprising six scales representing four core primary care domains, and three additional scales representing three derivative domains. From the translation and cultural adaptation stage, two items were combined, two items were removed and one item was added. Six other items were excluded due to problems in item-total correlations. All items have a low non-response or ‘don’t know/don’t remember’ response rate, and there were no floor or ceiling effects. All scales had a Cronbach’s alpha above 0.80, except for the Coordination scale, which still was above the minimum level of 0.70. Conclusion: The VN PCAT PE demonstrates adequate internal consistency and validity to be used as an effective tool for measuring the quality of primary care in Vietnam from the provider perspective.

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