Group versus single handed primary care: A performance evaluation of the care delivered to chronic patients by Italian GPs

Access to primary care in Italy: time for a shake-up?

“…As already seen from the literature [10], Italian group practices, although quite common now (for instance, only 15 % of GPs in our sample formally worked single-handedly), barely affect the weekly timeline. 'Sharing the care' requires a practice shift from an 'I' to a 'we' mindset [17] that goes beyond 'sharing the costs' with colleagues, and both the current ad personam capitation system and the high mean age of Italian GPs seem to make this cultural switch difficult.…”

“…Although several regional experiences have encouraged group practices since the late 1990s, largely through financial incentives, patients are still registered with one doctor, and this is a major hurdle to working in groups [10]. An aging workforce is becoming a further barrier to cultural change since around half the Italian GPs are over 55 years old [8].…”

Out-of-hours primary care services: Demands and patient referral patterns in a Veneto region (Italy) Local Health Authority

“…The independent variables were divided into three categories: socio-demographic, process-contextual, and clinical, as detailed in the regression table footnotes. The organizational format adopted by the patient's GP was used as a dummy variable: taking GPs who worked alone for reference, as opposed to GPs working in associations, networks, groups, or integrated units (UTAP) [12,17].…”

Can Italian Healthcare Administrative Databases Be Used to Compare Regions with Respect to Compliance with Standards of Care for Chronic Diseases?

“…Healthcare is managed for every inhabitant by the Local Health Authority where she has her regular address [19]. Coordination of primary care within a Local Health Authority is performed at a smaller geographical level called Health District [18]. Every Italian inhabitant is entitled to choose a GP, although parents might opt for a specialist paediatrician instead for their children, up to the age of 15.…”

“…In Italy, the VALORE Project was the first national-level study which evaluated a national policy in primary care by using administrative healthcare data for calculation of indicators of compliance [18]. This paper presents the validation study on the reliability of administrative databases in estimating such indicators.…”