scholarly journals Relationship between general practice capitation funding and the quality of primary care in England: a cross-sectional, 3-year study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e030624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veline L’Esperance ◽  
Hugh Gravelle ◽  
Peter Schofield ◽  
Rita Santos ◽  
Mark Ashworth

ObjectiveTo explore the relationship between general practice capitation funding and quality ratings based on general practice inspections.DesignCross-sectional study pooling 3 years of primary care administrative data.SettingUK primary care.Participants7310 practices (95% of all practices) in England which underwent Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections between November 2014 and December 2017.Main outcome measuresCQC ratings. Ordered logistic regression methods were used to predict the relationship between practice capitation funding and CQC ratings in each of five domains of quality: caring, effective, responsive, safe and well led, together with an overall practice rating.ResultsHigher capitation funding per patient was significantly associated with higher CQC ratings across all five quality domains: caring (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.23), effective (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.16), responsive (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.17), safe (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.18), well led (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.20) and overall rating (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.19).ConclusionHigher capitation funding was consistently associated with higher ratings across all CQC domains and in the overall practice rating. This study suggests that measured dimensions of the quality of care are related to the underlying capitation funding allocated to each general practice, implying that additional capitation funding may be associated with higher levels of primary care quality.

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 147997312096481
Author(s):  
Stefan Heinmüller ◽  
Emmily Schaubroeck ◽  
Luca Frank ◽  
Anina Höfle ◽  
Michael Langer ◽  
...  

Objectives: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common health problem to be dealt with in primary care. Little is known about the quality of care provided for patients with COPD in Germany. Therefore, we wanted to assess the current quality of care delivered by a primary care network (PCN) for patients with COPD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in collaboration with a primary care network (PCN). All patients of the PCN aged 40 years and older with a diagnosis of COPD were identified through electronic health records (EHR). A set of quality indicators (QIs) developed in accordance with current COPD-guidelines were appraised through numerical data retrieved from the EHR. Results: In total, 2,568 patients with COPD were identified. Their mean age was 67 (SD±12) years, 49% were male. Thirty-five percent had a parallel diagnosis of asthma. There was no documentation of any spirometry for 54% of patients; 29% had a spirometry within the previous year. An influenza vaccination was documented for 37% within the preceding 12 months; 12% received a pneumococcal vaccination in the last 6 years. Smoking status was documented for 44% within the last year. Conclusion: The quality of care for patients with COPD in the PCN seemed suboptimal, despite the presence of a Disease Management Program (DMP). This finding is likely to apply widely to German general practice. Quality assessment through currently available EHR data was challenging due to non-standardized and insufficient documentation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Heinmüller ◽  
Luca Frank ◽  
Anina Höfle ◽  
Michael Langer ◽  
Korbinian Saggau ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND In the United Kingdom, a system of clinical governance (CG) which was introduced “top-down” by politics tries to ensure high quality health services. In general practice, the meeting of quality targets was linked to financial incentives causing several negative effects. In Germany CG is not established. We advocate a “bottom-up” CG for German general practice to avoid these negative effects. AIMS To test “bottom-up” CG within a network of general practices (GPN) using chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as example disease. As a first step, we wanted to assess the current care quality of the GPN for COPD. Furthermore, feasibility of a care quality assessment through routine data from electronic health records (EHR) should be evaluated. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted. Quality indicators (QI) were developed according to COPD guidelines. COPD patients of the GPN ≥40 years were identified. For the determination of QI, data were retrieved from EHR. RESULTS In total, 2568 COPD patients were identified. Their mean age was 67 (SD±12) years, 49% were male. Thirty-five percent had a parallel diagnosis of asthma. There was no documentation of any spirometry for 54% of patients, 29% had a spirometry within the previous year. An influenza vaccination was administered to 37% within the preceding twelve months, 12% received a pneumococcal vaccination in the last six years. Smoking status was documented for 44% within the last year. Several QI were not assessable. CONCLUSION Care quality assessment by means of EHR data was challenging due to non-standardized documentation. Assessable QI indicated suboptimal COPD care. Our results confirm the need for CG in German general practice and better EHR softwares supporting CG through structured documentation and feedback for GPs. We are planning to proceed with “bottom-up” CG by introducing quality improvement measures within the GPN in answer to this study.


Author(s):  
Jingyi Liao ◽  
Mengping Zhou ◽  
Chenwen Zhong ◽  
Cuiying Liang ◽  
Nan Hu ◽  
...  

Family practice contract services, an important primary-care reform policy for improving primary healthcare quality in China, incorporate patients with multiple chronic conditions into the priority coverage groups and focus on their management. This study aims to explore the family practice contract services’ effectiveness in improving the quality of primary care experienced by this population. A cross-sectional study using a three-stage sampling was conducted from January to March 2019 in Guangdong, China. A multivariable linear regression, including interaction terms, was applied to examine the associations between the contract services and primary care quality among people with different chronic conditions. The process quality of primary care was measured in six dimensions using the validated assessment survey of primary care (ASPC) scale. People with contract services scored higher in terms of quality of primary care than those without contract services. Contract services moderated the association between chronic condition status and primary care quality. Significantly positive interactions were observed in the patient-centred care dimension and negative interactions were reflected in the accessibility dimension. Our findings suggest that family practice contract services play a crucial role in improving patient-perceived primary care quality and provide emerging evidence that patients with multimorbidity tend to benefit more from the services, especially in patient-centred care.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Zargari ◽  
E. Kazemnezhad Leyli ◽  
S. Z. Azimi

Background. Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) results in an increased burden of psoriasis and impairs both quality of life and an individual’s functional capacity. The relationship between nail involvement and PsA in psoriasis is not fully characterized. Aim. To evaluate the frequency and characteristics of nail involvement in psoriatic patients and to assess the relationship with joint involvement. Methods. A total of 197 patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis were consecutively invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. The patients are divided into two groups: those with and those without psoriatic arthritis. Results. 69.5% of psoriatic (137 out of 197) patients had nail involvement. The most common nail abnormality was onycholysis, followed by pitting and oil droplet changes. Nail involvement was more common in patients with psoriatic arthritis (82.1% versus 57.8%, p=0.001). Conclusion. Nail involvement is commonly associated with PsA. Onycholysis, splinter hemorrhage, and oil drop were significantly more common in the PsA group as opposed to patients with just skin findings. In general, psoriatic patients with arthritis had more severe disease.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. e021317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Li ◽  
Chenwen Zhong ◽  
Jie Mei ◽  
Yuan Liang ◽  
Li Li ◽  
...  

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.


Author(s):  
Diadjeng Setya W ◽  
◽  
Miftahul Jannah ◽  
Rismaina Putri ◽  
◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Background: Fulfilment of nutrition in the first 1000 days of life greatly affects the development of a child’s brain and body. If the nutritional intake is not fulfilled, the impact on children’s development will be permanent, one of which is stunting. This study aimed to compare the quality of antenatal care (ANC) by midwives in the stunting locus and not the stunting locus village. Subjects and Method: This was a comparative analytic with cross-sectional study conducted in stunting locus and not stunting locus village in Malang Regency from August-December 2019. A total of 84 midwives were enrolled in this study by purposive sampling. The data were collected by questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a multiple linear regression. Results: Quality of ANC in stunting locus and not stunting locus village were not showing good results. The most dominant influence on the quality of ANC midwives in the stunting locus was the length of work of the midwives. Meanwhile, the most dominant influence on the quality of ANC midwives in non-stunting locus was the latest education. Conclusion: Quality of ANC in stunting locus and not stunting locus village are not yet showing good results. Keywords: stunting, quality, antenatal care, midwives Correspondence: Diadjeng Setya Wardani. Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya. Jl. Veteran Malang, East Java, Indonesia. [email protected] DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.03.06


2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 2170-2174
Author(s):  
Oleksii M. Korzh

The aim: Was to evaluate the quality of DSME provided by primary care physicians to people with diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 primary care physicians. The quality of diabetes self-management training provided by physicians was assessed on a personal scale of 39 Likert questions obtained from the American Association of Diabetes Educators in seven areas of diabetes self-monitoring. The Cronbach’s reliability coefficient for each domain / subscale was ≥ 0.7. The data were analyzed using an independent selective t-test and one-way ANOVA. Results: More than half of the doctors provided “inadequate quality” of diabetes self-management in all areas. Doctors had the highest average score in the domain of “drug intake” (4.46 ± 0.61). Average scores in the “problem-solving domain” (3.52 ± 0.63) and “ being active domain” (3.46 ± 0.75) were low. The quality of DSME provided by physicians was not related to any of the characteristics of the physician. Conclusions: The quality of doctors’ communication on DSME in this study was suboptimal. Most adequately informed cases of diabetic behavior associated with self-management have been associated with reduced risk factors and an orientation towards disease. Thus, training of primary care physicians in diabetic self-management is recommended because of the key role that these doctors play in managing diabetes.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e027296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nóra Kovács ◽  
Orsolya Varga ◽  
Attila Nagy ◽  
Anita Pálinkás ◽  
Valéria Sipos ◽  
...  

ObjectivesThe objectives of our study were (1) to investigate the association between gender of the general practitioner (GP) and the quality of primary care in Hungary with respect to process indicators for GP performance and (2) to assess the size of the gender impact.Study designA nation-wide cross-sectional study was performed in 2016.Setting and participantsThe study covered all general medical practices in Hungary (n=4575) responsible for the provision of primary healthcare (PHC) for adults. All GPs in their private practices are solo practitioners.Main outcome measuresMultilevel logistic regression models were used to analyse the association between GP gender and process indicators of PHC, and attributable proportion (AP) was calculated.Results48% of the GPs (n=2213) were women in the study. The crude rates of care provided by female GPs were significantly higher for seven out of eight evaluated indicators than those provided by male GPs. Adjusted for practice, physician and patient factors, GP gender was associated with the haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measurement: OR=1.18, 95% CI (1.14 to 1.23); serum creatinine measurement: OR=1.14, 95% CI (1.12 to 1.17); lipid measurement: OR=1.14, 95% CI (1.11 to 1.16); eye examination: OR=1.06, 95% CI (1.03 to 1.08); mammography screening: OR=1.05, 95% CI (1.03 to 1.08); management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: OR=1.05, 95% CI (1.01 to 1.09) and the composite indicator: OR=1.08, 95% CI (1.07 to 1.1), which summarises the number of care events and size of target populations of each indicator. The AP at the specific indicators varied from 0.97% (95% CI 0.49% to 1.44%) of influenza immunisation to 8.04% (95% CI 7.4% to 8.67%) of eye examinations.ConclusionFemale GP gender was an independent predictor of receiving higher quality of care. The actual size of the gender effect on the quality of services seemed to be notable. Factors behind the gender effect should receive more attention in quality improvement particularly in countries where the primary care is organised around solo practices.


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