Process quality indicators in family medicine: results of an international comparison

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of our study was to describe variability in process quality in family medicine among 31 European countries plus Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The quality of family medicine was measured in terms of continuity, coordination, community orientation, and comprehensiveness of care.MethodsThe QUALICOPC study (Quality and Costs of Primary Care in Europe) was carried out among family physicians in 31 European countries (the EU 27 except for France, plus Macedonia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey) and three non-European countries (Australia, Canada, and New Zealand). We used random sampling when national registers of practitioners were available. Regional registers or lists of facilities were used for some countries.A standardized questionnaire was distributed to the physicians, resulting in a sample of 6734 participants. Data collection took place between October 2011 and December 2013. Based on completed questionnaires, a three-dimensional framework was established to measure continuity, coordination, community orientation, and comprehensiveness of care. Multilevel linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the variation of quality attributable to the family physician level and the country level.ResultsNone of the 34 countries in this study consistently scored the best or worst in all categories. Continuity of care was perceived by family physicians as the most important dimension of quality. Some components of comprehensiveness of care, including medical technical procedures, preventive care and health care promotion, varied substantially between countries. Coordination of care was identified as the weakest part of quality. We found that physician-level characteristics contributed to the majority of variation.ConclusionsA comparison of process quality indicators in family medicine revealed similarities and differences within and between countries. The researchers found that the major proportion of variation can be explained by physicians’ characteristics.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12875-015-0386-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Quality of primary health care in Poland from the perspective of the physicians providing it

“…Coordination scored the worst in the group. Pavlic et al [26] analyzed the variability in process quality in family medicine among all countries participating in the QUALICOPC project. Coordination of care was identified as the weakest process quality indicators in family medicine.…”

Which patient and doctor behaviours make a medical consultation more effective from a patient point of view. Results from a European multicentre study in 31 countries

“…Ethical approval was acquired in accordance with the legal requirements in each country. Details about the study protocol and recruitment procedure have been published elsewhere [23,24], as well as the results of several parallel sub-studies [ [25], [26], [27], [28], [29]].…”

Safety culture in the primary health care settings based on workers with a leadership role: the psychometric properties of the Slovenian-language version of the safety attitudes questionnaire – short form

“…Patient safety features in primary healthcare have been investigated through a study on the Quality and Costs of Primary Care in Europe (QUALICOPC), dealing with the organisation and accessibility of primary healthcare services [23]. In addition, safety culture has been measured by the Slovenian-language version of the SAQ-AV in out-of-hours primary health care settings [24–26].…”