Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · Dec 2003
Comparative StudyPathways to care and psychological problems of general practice patients in a "gate keeper" and an "open access" health care system: a comparison of Germany and the Netherlands.
The comparison of different health care systems is one way to give empirical evidence to health care reform and policy. The differences between health care systems in which general practitioners serve as gate keepers in comparison to systems in which patients are free to contact every physician and specialist they like are a question of high interest. ⋯ Family physicians in a gate keeper system reduce the number of contacts to other physicians and the intensity of treatment, while at the same time the rate of hospital admissions is increased.