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Gatekeeping.

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Delivery of Health Care↗

[Telemedicine and general practice--future or present. Telemedicine, a way to strengthen the gatekeeper role?].

Electronic communication and data-processing are by no means a new phenomenon in general practice. The next logical step might be to include telemedicine, i.e. images, sound, video, and other kinds of medical information in the communication process. The potential for applying telemedicine in the adjoining areas between the general practice and the hospitals and patients is reviewed. We assume that an increase in the use of electronic communication and telemedicine will strengthen the central role of general practice. A representative sample of international literature is reviewed. The findings are that patients have no substantial misgivings against the use of telemedicine, but scientific documentation of the influence on the patient-doctor relationship, on the quality and quantity of the medical work, and on the job satisfaction of general practitioners is still not available. We present a number of suggestions regarding the use of electronic communication between the general practitioner and the patient. The importance of providing clear, in-depth information to the patient about the use of medical IT communication is underlined. The aspect of data-security is evaluated, and for lack of precise guidelines from health officials it is our suggestion that the report from the Danish Ministry of Finance regarding data-security in public administration is consulted. As to data-access, doctors and patients should be placed on two different safety-levels. It's suggested that doctors should be equipped with a digital key, whereas patients should use a pin code and their social security number. The use of traditional e-mail is dissuaded when exchanging sensitive, person-related information. The importance of valid evaluation of new IT functions is underlined.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Physicians as gatekeepers. The impact of financial incentives.

Incentives encouraging physicians to reduce their use of diagnostic tests are controversial. We studied physicians enrolled in an independent practitioner association who see both fee-for-service and prepaid (health maintenance organization [HMO]) patients concurrently. We asked the following questions: (1) Do physicians order fewer tests for their patients enrolled in an HMO relative to their patients seen on a fee-for-service basis? (2) Are any reductions in testing selective or indiscriminate? We reviewed the charts of 273 new patients, 167 enrolled in a fee-for-service system and 106 enrolled in an HMO, who were seen by 17 physicians "for a check-up," and graded test use as "indicated" or "discretionary." We used multiple logistic regression to control for the effects of patient age and sex. Patients in the HMO underwent fewer tests than did patients in the fee-for-service system, as well as fewer discretionary tests, but received the same proportion of preventive services. We conclude that physicians ordered fewer tests for patients in the HMO, apparently because of selective omission of discretionary tests. Physicians also did not reduce preventive services for patients in the HMO relative to all other physicians.

Adult↗