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PubMed1998

Reducing a peritoneal dialysis program's cost by changing from a vendor-provided to a program-provided system for general medical supplies: significant savings in CCPD.

An examination of the costs associated with outpatient chronic peritoneal dialysis prompted us to investigate the charges for general medical supplies used by patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis (CCPD) in our hospital-owned, not-for-profit peritoneal dialysis program. The items used by patients to perform their dialysis exchanges and daily exit site care included 4 x 3 and 2 x 2 sterile gauze pads, antibacterial soap, masks, tape, and betadine swabsticks. The charges for these supplies when purchased from the dialysis vendor were compared with charges for the same items if purchased directly from hospital stores by the peritoneal dialysis program and then distributed to the patients. This initial analysis suggested a considerable savings if the peritoneal dialysis program provided the supplies. Based on this estimated savings, in July 1995, the peritoneal dialysis program changed from a vendor-provided to a program-provided system for general supplies used by CAPD and CCPD patients. This study examined the differences in charges expressed as $/patient-month for two periods: July 1994 to June 1995 (when all general medical supplies were provided by dialysis vendors directly to the CAPD and CCPD patients) and July 1995 to May 1996 (when the peritoneal dialysis program purchased general medical supplies from hospital stores and distributed these supplies directly to the patients). The median vendor charges for CAPD patients (n = 21 during 1994 to 1995 and n = 18 during 1995 to 1996) were not significantly different between the two periods. In fact, the charges were slightly higher during the 1995 to 1996 period ($1,264/patient-month v $1,193/patient-month during the vendor-provided period of July 1994 to June 1995, P = 0.67). The median vendor charges for patients on CCPD were significantly lower during the 1995 to 1996 period when the peritoneal dialysis program provided the general medical supplies used for CCPD ($1,110/patient-month v $1,389/patient-month during 1994 to 1995, P = 0.003). There were 30 CCPD patients during the 1994 to 1995 period and 27 patients on CCPD during 1995 to 1996. The total charges for CAPD and CCPD patients combined included dialysis vendor charges (dialysis solution, tubing, cycler rental) and charges from hospital stores. These total charges were lower in the July 1995 to May 1996 period when general medical supplies were purchased directly from hospital stores rather than from the dialysis vendors: $1,201/patient-month versus $1,360/patient-month (P = 0.03). The median hospital store charges rose slightly during the July 1995 to May 1996 period when supplies were purchased by the peritoneal dialysis program from hospital stores ($31/patient-month v $21/patient-month, P = 0.37, during the July 1994 to June 1995 period when general medical supplies were purchased directly from dialysis vendors). However, despite the rise in charges from hospital stores, an overall savings of $149/patient-month was achieved when the peritoneal dialysis program purchased and provided general medical supplies used by the peritoneal dialysis patients. This $149/patient-month equals $1,788 savings per dialysis year for each patient on peritoneal dialysis for that year. Significant savings in the cost of a chronic peritoneal dialysis program may therefore occur if less expensive sources for the general medical supplies used by CAPD and, especially, CCPD patients are found.

Contract Services↗
PubMed2006

Optimal grids for generalized finite basis and discrete variable representations: definition and method of calculation.

The method of optimal generalized finite basis and discrete variable representations (FBR and DVR) generalizes the standard, Gaussian quadrature grid-classical orthonormal polynomial basis-based FBR/DVR method to general sets of grid points and to general, nondirect product, and/or nonpolynomial bases. Here, it is shown how an optimal set of grid points can be obtained for an optimal generalized FBR/DVR calculation with a given truncated basis. Basis set optimized and potential optimized grids are defined. The optimized grids are shown to minimize a function of grid points derived by relating the optimal generalized FBR of a Hamiltonian operator to a non-Hermitian effective Hamiltonian matrix. Locating the global minimum of this function can be reduced to finding the zeros of a function in the case of one dimensional problems and to solving a system of D nonlinear equations repeatedly in the case of D>1 dimensional problems when there is an equal number of grid points and basis functions. Gaussian quadrature grids are shown to be basis optimized grids. It is demonstrated by a numerical example that an optimal generalized FBR/DVR calculation of the eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian operator with potential optimized grids can have orders of magnitude higher accuracy than a variational calculation employing the same truncated basis. Nevertheless, for numerical integration with the optimal generalized FBR quadrature rule basis optimized grids are the best among grids of the same number of points. The notions of Gaussian quadrature and Gaussian quadrature accuracy are extended to general, multivariable basis functions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Role of the general practitioner in breast cancer screening in The Netherlands.

Following the advice of the Dutch National Health Council, a national screening program for breast cancer was started in 1990 in the Netherlands. All women aged 50-70 will be invited for screening by mammography in fixed or (semi)mobile screening units every 2 years. The role of the general practitioner in screening for breast cancer is described in the Dutch protocol (Standard) published in 1990 by the Dutch College of General Practitioners. Because of the role of the general practitioner/family doctor as a gatekeeper and because of the list system, every Dutch woman is known by her own general practitioner. In any given year the general practitioner will see 70% of his population. So the general practitioner is in the position to play an important role in practice and patient-centered support of breast cancer screening. The general practitioner also has an important role in the support of women with positive results. The general practitioner receives the "abnormal" results and has to explain to the woman what this means and what further investigations are necessary. There are teaching programs on screening for breast cancer for the vocational training of general practitioners and for postgraduate training.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Health and lifestyle of general practitioners and teachers.

General practitioners (408) and secondary teachers (385) responded to a questionnaire about their health and lifestyle with a response rate of 48 and 45 per cent respectively. Their answers were corroborated by a separate questionnaire completed by their spouse or domestic partner. A sub-group of 50 general practitioners and 50 teachers were examined to assess their physical fitness and mental health. Half of each group was below average fitness compared to the general population. General practitioners were more likely than teachers to practise disease prevention. Ten per cent of general practitioners and 13 per cent of teachers were smokers; 8 per cent of general practitioners and 14 per cent of teachers reported an alcohol consumption that exceeded recommended limits. General practitioners took remarkably little sickness absence compared to teachers. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were more common in teachers: a need for alcohol, binge eating and sleep difficulties were frequently experienced in both groups. Medication taken by the two groups was similar and self-medication was common amongst the general practitioners. Less than half the general practitioners thought they would use an occupational health service if it were established.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1995

Assessing clinical competence: recognition of case descriptions of rheumatic diseases by general practitioners.

The objective of this study was to detect strengths and weaknesses in the diagnosis of rheumatic diseases by general practitioners in order to set up post-graduate training accordingly and to assess whether open-ended questions give results comparable with multiple choice-type questions. Fifty-one general practitioners were given eight written cases: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis (PsA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), gout, polymyalgia rheumatica and pseudogout. Only signs and symptoms were provided. All cases were derived from real patients with a definite diagnosis. Each case was presented in both types of question formats. The cases were also presented to 23 rheumatologists. We found that in the open-ended question format 57.1% of the general practitioners gave the correct answers. Cases of RA, AS, gout and PsA were correctly diagnosed by > 70% of the general practitioners. Cases of polymyalgia rheumatica and reactive arthritis were correctly diagnosed by 55 and 39% of the general practitioners, respectively. The cases of pseudogout and SLE were correctly diagnosed by less than 11% of the general practitioners. Fifty-two per cent of the general practitioners gave the correct answers to the multiple choice-type questions. There was no statistical difference in the correct answers between the open-ended questions and the multiple choice-type questions. We concluded that assuming generalization of the results, training of general practitioners should include polymyalgia rheumatica, reactive arthritis, SLE and pseudogout.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2004

General psychiatric services for adults with intellectual disability and mental illness.

BACKGROUND: Adults with intellectual disability (ID) and mental illness may use general or specialist psychiatric services. This review aims to assess if there is evidence for a difference in outcome between them. METHODS: A literature review was conducted using a variety of electronic databases and hand-search strategies to identify all studies evaluating the outcome of people with ID and mental illness using general psychiatric services. RESULTS: There is no conclusive evidence to favour the use of general or specialist psychiatric services. People with ID stay less time on general psychiatric than specialist inpatient units. People with severe ID appear not to be well served in general services. Older studies of inpatient samples suggest a worse outcome for people with ID. Novel specialist services generally improve upon pre-existing general services. Assertive outreach in general services may preferentially benefit those with ID. Recent studies suggest similar lengths of stay in general psychiatric beds for people with and without ID. CONCLUSIONS: Although 27 studies were located, only two were randomized controlled trials. The evidence is poor quality therefore further evaluation of services employing a variety of designs need to be employed to give more robust evidence as to which services are preferred.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Health-related quality of life in the first year following diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes: newly diagnosed patients in general practice compared with screening-detected patients. The Hoorn Screening Study.

AIMS: To determine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the first year following diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes among newly diagnosed patients in general practice compared with patients detected by targeted population screening. METHODS: The study population consisted of 49 newly diagnosed patients in general practice and 116 screening-detected patients. HRQoL was operationalized as symptom distress, perceived health status and emotional well-being, that were assessed prospectively approximately 2 weeks, 6 months and 12 months after the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, with the Type 2 Diabetes Symptom Checklist (DSC-type 2), the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the Well-Being Questionnaire (W-BQ12), respectively. RESULTS: The DSC-type 2 total score (range 0-4) improved significantly within newly diagnosed patients in general practice (median at approximately 2 weeks, 6 months and 12 months; 0.56, 0.21, 0.26; P = 0.000) and not within screening-detected patients (0.24, 0.24, 0.29; P = 0.093). Descriptives showed that newly diagnosed patients in general practice compared with screening-detected patients had consistently worse mean scores on all SF-36 mental health subscales Social Functioning, Role Emotional, Mental Health, Vitality, and all W-BQ12 scales at each time point. The differences were statistically significant for Role Emotional, Mental Health, Vitality (SF-36), and General well-being (W-BQ12). The SF-36 General Health (F = 3.7, P = 0.028) and Vitality (F = 4.5, P = 0.012) scores of newly diagnosed patients in general practice improved significantly over time, compared with screening-detected patients. CONCLUSIONS: Newly diagnosed patients in general practice compared with screening-detected patients reported more diabetes-related symptom distress shortly after the diagnosis, and a consistently worse mental health status at each time point. Improved Vitality scores in newly diagnosed patients in general practice in the first year following diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes suggest a positive effect of diabetes treatment on HRQoL.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Community based health education: general practitioners' perceptions of their role and willingness to participate.

This study aimed to: 1. determine general practitioners' perceptions of their appropriateness to conduct community based health education; 2. assess the proportion of general practitioners who had undertaken group health education in the previous 12 months, and identify the factors that discourage and encourage this activity; and 3. identify appropriate health areas and the community groups that general practitioners would be prepared to address if provided with educational packages on the topic. A random sample of 181 general practitioners (66.5 per cent response rate) completed a mailed questionnaire. General practitioners rated health promotion officers (32.6 per cent) and general practitioners (30.9 per cent) as the most appropriate health care providers to undertake community based health education activities. Of the general practitioners, 38 per cent had undertaken community health education in the previous 12 months, with lack of time, lack of earnings while away from the practice, and lack of confidence in public speaking being the main reasons for not undertaking this activity. Being specifically invited to address groups, being provided with an information package on the topic, and being paid for their time were the three factors most likely to encourage this activity. Skin, cervical and breast cancer, blood pressure and cholesterol, and asthma were the topics general practitioners were most willing to speak on. Although this survey suggests that general practitioners would be willing to undertake this community health education, research is needed on whether they are the most appropriate and effective group for this.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

HIV-related discrimination: a survey of New South Wales general practitioners.

This study aimed to investigate the correlates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related discrimination among general practitioners. The survey, conducted in 1993-1994, covered a random sample of 878 general practitioners from six of the 12 New South Wales health areas, augmented by 44-general practitioners from the same areas who were antiretroviral drug prescribers. The response rate was 51 per cent, and the final usable sample was 451. Variables examined were: demographic characteristics, the number of HIV-infected patients, personal contact with people living with HIV or AIDS, personal contact with homosexuals, the degree of anxiety about HIV or AIDS, and the degree of HIV-related discrimination. Discriminatory attitudes among general practitioners decreased as contact with HIV-infected patients (P < 0.001), other people living with HIV or AIDS (P < 0.001), and homosexuals (P < 0.001) increased. Anxiety about HIV or AIDS also decreased as contact increased (P < 0.001). Higher levels of anxiety were strongly associated with higher levels of HIV-related discrimination (P < 0.001). The demographic correlates of discrimination among general practitioners were the same as those found in the wider population. The professional care of people living with HIV and AIDS was concentrated among a small number of general practitioners, many of whom were homosexual. Ten general practitioners were carrying extraordinarily high caseloads of over 200 HIV-infected patients each. Older, heterosexual and male general practitioners are an important target for education campaigns, and the professional care of people living with HIV or AIDS should be encouraged among a wider group of general practitioners.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

True believers? Characteristics of general practitioners in Victorian community health centres.

General practitioners have been part of multidisciplinary services in Victoria Community Health Centres (CHCs) for 20 years. This model institutionalizes a high degree of integration between general practitioners and other primary care and community service personnel. Of 51 eligible full-time general practitioners in Victorian CHCs, 46 were interviewed, using a structured questionnaire. General practitioners in CHCs were younger, less experienced and more likely to be female than other general practitioners. Nearly three-quarters were salaried. The philosophy of practice and the conditions of employment were the commonest reasons for entering CHC practice. Teamwork and the conditions of employment were felt to be the biggest advantages of CHC practice, while difficulties with management and the perceived loss of professional ownership and control were the commonest disadvantages. None reported interference from the CHC management in their clinical practice. Nearly a quarter of full-time CHC general practitioners do not undertake any formal community health promotion activities. Forty-five per cent of respondents intended to leave their CHC within the next five years. Universal health insurance has diminished the impact of CHC general practice. The philosophy of CHCs and the salaried nature of the employment continues to attract general practitioners. High staff turnover is a feature of CHC general practice, in part related to young doctors making an initial, but not long-term commitment to CHC practice. However, the loss of professional control and management difficulties should be addressed, as these may contribute to the high turnover.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Role of general practitioners in care of long term mentally ill patients.

OBJECTIVE: To assess general practitioners' involvement with long term mentally ill patients and attitudes towards their care. DESIGN: Postal questionnaire survey. SETTING: General practices in South West Thames region. SUBJECTS: 507 general practitioners, 369 (73%) of whom returned the questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of adult long term mentally ill patients whom general practitioners estimate they have on their lists and general practitioners' willingness to take responsibility for them. RESULTS: 110 respondents had noticed an effect of the discharge of adult long term mentally ill patients on their practices. Most (225) respondents estimated that they had 10 or fewer such patients each on their lists. Having higher numbers was significantly associated with practising in Greater London or within three miles of a large mental hospital and having contact with a psychiatrist visiting the practice. 333 general practitioners would agree to share the care of long term mentally ill patients with the psychiatrist by taking responsibility for the patients' physical problems. Only 59 would agree to act as a key worker, 308 preferring the community psychiatric nurse to do it. Only nine had specific practice policies for looking after long term mentally ill patients and 287 agreed that such patients often come to their general practitioner's attention only when there is a crisis. CONCLUSIONS: The uneven distribution of long term mentally ill patients suggests that community pyschiatric resources might be better targeted at those practices with higher numbers of such patients. Most general practitioners seem to be receptive to a shared care plan when the consultant takes responsibility for monitoring psychiatric health with the community nurse as key worker. The lack of practice policies for reviewing the care of long term mentally ill patients must limit general practitioners' ability to prevent crises developing in their care.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1991

Performance of skin biopsies by general practitioners.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and appraise skin biopsies performed by general practitioners and compare their performance with that of hospital doctors. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of histology records. SETTING: University hospital. SUBJECTS: Records of 292 skin biopsy specimens obtained by general practitioners and 324 specimens obtained by general and plastic surgeons. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical and pathological diagnoses and completeness of excision. RESULTS: The number of specimens received from hospital surgeons and general practitioners increased over the study period; the proportion of specimens from general practitioners rose from 17/1268 (1.3%) in 1984 to 201/2387 (8.7%) in 1990. The range of diagnoses was similar among hospital and general practitioner cases, although malignancy was commoner in hospital cases (63/324 (19%) v 14/292 (5%) in general practitioner cases; chi 2 = 28, p less than 0.00001). Completeness of excision was less common among general practitioners than hospital surgeons (150/233 (3/15 malignant) v 195/232 (57/63); chi 2 = 22, p less than 0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: The increase in minor surgery has implications for the staffing and finance of histopathology departments. General practitioners must be given proper training in performing skin biopsies, and all specimens should be sent for examination.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Do clinical guidelines improve general practice management and referral of infertile couples?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate guidelines for general practice management and referral of infertile couples. Guidelines were implemented with a disease specific reminder at the time of consultation (the guidelines were embedded within a structured infertility management sheet for each couple). DESIGN: Pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Participating practices were randomised to a group that received the guidelines and a control group. SETTING: 82 general practices in Grampian region. SUBJECTS: 100 couples referred by general practitioners receiving the guideline and 100 couples referred by control general practitioners. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Whether the general practitioner had taken a full sexual history and examined and investigated both partners appropriately. RESULTS: Characteristics of patients referred by study and control general practitioners did not differ significantly at baseline. Compliance with the guidelines increased for all targeted activities. General practitioners in the study group were more likely to take a sexual history (for example, couples' use of fertile period, 85% v 69%, p < 0.01); examine both partners (female partner, 68% v 52%, p < 0.05; male partner 39% v 13%, p < 0.01); and investigate both partners (day 21 progesterone, 72% v 41%, p < 0.001; semen analysis, 51% v 41%, p > 0.05). Improvements were greater when general practitioners used the disease specific reminder. CONCLUSION: Receiving guidelines led to improvements in the process of care of infertile couples within general practice. This effect was enhanced when the guidelines were embedded in a structured infertility management sheet for each couple.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Opinions of general practitioners in Nottinghamshire about provision of intrapartum care.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the beliefs of general practitioners concerning intrapartum care. DESIGN: Postal questionnaire survey. SUBJECTS: All general practitioners with patients in Nottinghamshire Family Health Services Authority in September 1993. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: General practitioners' current involvement in maternity care, and beliefs on intrapartum care. RESULTS: Of 694 general practitioners sent questionnaires, 550 (79.2%) replied. 529 of these were on the obstetric list; 437 had not attended a delivery in the past 12 months; 36 had attended two or more; 358 general practitioners did not wish to provide more intrapartum care; 349 did not feel competent to do so. Reasons for not wanting to provide intrapartum care included current workload (453), disruption to personal life (407), and the fear of litigation (377). General practitioners who already booked women for home delivery were more likely to wish to do more deliveries (62/42 v 61/316, chi 2 = 85.3; P < 0.0001) and to have more positive attitudes towards increasing women's choice in maternity care (90/22 v 195/151, chi 2 = 227; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The involvement of general practitioners in intrapartum care in Nottinghamshire is low, and most general practitioners are unwilling to increase their role. However, general practitioners who already book for home delivery are keen to do more.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Dramaturgical study of meetings between general practitioners and representatives of pharmaceutical companies; Commentary: dramaturgical model gives valuable insight.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the interaction between general practitioners and pharmaceutical company representatives. DESIGN: Qualitative study of 13 consecutive meetings between general practitioner and pharmaceutical representatives. A dramaturgical model was used to inform analysis of the transcribed verbal interactions. SETTING: Practice in south west England. PARTICIPANTS: 13 pharmaceutical company representatives and one general practitioner. RESULTS: The encounters were acted out in six scenes. Scene 1 was initiated by the pharmaceutical representative, who acknowledged the relative status of the two players. Scene 2 provided the opportunity for the representative to check the general practitioner's knowledge about the product. Scene 3 was used to propose clinical and cost benefits associated with the product. During scene 4, the general practitioner took centre stage and challenged aspects of this information. Scene 5 involved a recovery strategy as the representative fought to regain equilibrium. In the final scene, the representative tried to ensure future contacts. CONCLUSION: Encounters between general practitioners and pharmaceutical representatives follow a consistent format that is implicitly understood by each player. It is naive to suppose that pharmaceutical representatives are passive resources for drug information. General practitioners might benefit from someone who can provide unbiased information about prescribing in a manner that is supportive and sympathetic to the demands of practice. What is already known on this topic Pharmaceutical representatives influence physicians' prescribing in ways that are often unacknowledged by the physicians themselves Meetings with pharmaceutical representatives are associated with increased prescribing costs and less rational prescribing What this study adds Meetings between pharmaceutical representatives and general practitioners follow a consistent format that is implicitly understood by each player General practitioners may cooperate because representatives make them feel valued

Drug Industry↗
PubMed2002

Comparison of estimates and calculations of risk of coronary heart disease by doctors and nurses using different calculation tools in general practice: cross sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of using different risk calculation tools on how general practitioners and practice nurses evaluate the risk of coronary heart disease with clinical data routinely available in patients' records. DESIGN: Subjective estimates of the risk of coronary heart disease and results of four different methods of calculation of risk were compared with each other and a reference standard that had been calculated with the Framingham equation; calculations were based on a sample of patients' records, randomly selected from groups at risk of coronary heart disease. SETTING: General practices in central England. PARTICIPANTS: 18 general practitioners and 18 practice nurses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Agreement of results of risk estimation and risk calculation with reference calculation; agreement of general practitioners with practice nurses; sensitivity and specificity of the different methods of risk calculation to detect patients at high or low risk of coronary heart disease. RESULTS: Only a minority of patients' records contained all of the risk factors required for the formal calculation of the risk of coronary heart disease (concentrations of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were present in only 21%). Agreement of risk calculations with the reference standard was moderate (kappa=0.33-0.65 for practice nurses and 0.33 to 0.65 for general practitioners, depending on calculation tool), showing a trend for underestimation of risk. Moderate agreement was seen between the risks calculated by general practitioners and practice nurses for the same patients (kappa=0.47 to 0.58). The British charts gave the most sensitive results for risk of coronary heart disease (practice nurses 79%, general practitioners 80%), and it also gave the most specific results for practice nurses (100%), whereas the Sheffield table was the most specific method for general practitioners (89%). CONCLUSIONS: Routine calculation of the risk of coronary heart disease in primary care is hampered by poor availability of data on risk factors. General practitioners and practice nurses are able to evaluate the risk of coronary heart disease with only moderate accuracy. Data about risk factors need to be collected systematically, to allow the use of the most appropriate calculation tools.

Community Health Nursing↗
PubMed2003

Cost effectiveness of physiotherapy, manual therapy, and general practitioner care for neck pain: economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cost effectiveness of physiotherapy, manual therapy, and care by a general practitioner for patients with neck pain. DESIGN: Economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Primary care. PARTICIPANTS: 183 patients with neck pain for at least two weeks recruited by 42 general practitioners and randomly allocated to manual therapy (n=60, spinal mobilisation), physiotherapy (n=59, mainly exercise), or general practitioner care (n=64, counselling, education, and drugs). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical outcomes were perceived recovery, intensity of pain, functional disability, and quality of life. Direct and indirect costs were measured by means of cost diaries that were kept by patients for one year. Differences in mean costs between groups, cost effectiveness, and cost utility ratios were evaluated by applying non-parametric bootstrapping techniques. RESULTS: The manual therapy group showed a faster improvement than the physiotherapy group and the general practitioner care group up to 26 weeks, but differences were negligible by follow up at 52 weeks. The total costs of manual therapy (447 euro; 273 pounds sterling; 402 dollars) were around one third of the costs of physiotherapy (1297 euro) and general practitioner care (1379 euro). These differences were significant: P<0.01 for manual therapy versus physiotherapy and manual therapy versus general practitioner care and P=0.55 for general practitioner care versus physiotherapy. The cost effectiveness ratios and the cost utility ratios showed that manual therapy was less costly and more effective than physiotherapy or general practitioner care. CONCLUSIONS: Manual therapy (spinal mobilisation) is more effective and less costly for treating neck pain than physiotherapy or care by a general practitioner.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed2003

Sickness certification system in the United Kingdom: qualitative study of views of general practitioners in Scotland.

OBJECTIVES: To explore how general practitioners operate the sickness certification system, their views on the system, and suggestions for change. DESIGN: Qualitative focus group study consisting of 11 focus groups with 67 participants. SETTING: General practitioners in practices in Glasgow, Tayside, and Highland regions, Scotland. SAMPLE: Purposive sample of general practitioners, with further theoretical sampling of key informant general practitioners to examine emerging themes. RESULTS: General practitioners believed that the sickness certification system failed to address complex, chronic, or doubtful cases. They seemed to develop various operational strategies for its implementation. There appeared to be important deliberate misuse of the system by general practitioners, possibly related to conflicts about roles and incongruities in the system. The doctor-patient relationship was perceived to conflict with the current role of general practitioners in sickness certification. When making decisions about certification, the general practitioners considered a wide variety of factors. They experienced contradictory demands from other system stakeholders and felt blamed for failing to make impossible reconciliations. They clearly identified the difficulties of operating the system when there was no continuity of patient care. Many wished either to relinquish their gatekeeper role or to continue only with major changes. CONCLUSIONS: Policy makers need to recognise and accommodate the range and complexity of factors that influence the behaviour of general practitioners operating as gatekeepers to the sickness certification system, before making changes. Such changes are otherwise unlikely to result in improvement. Models other than the primary care gatekeeper model should be considered.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗