Bmc Health Serv Res
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Oct 2008
Utilization of the out of hours service in Poland: an observational study from Krakow.
In 2000 a new GP contract was introduced in Poland. It allowed GPs to subcontract out of hours care to specialized deputizing services. One such service in Kraków provides care to 61 GP practices with a population of 420,000 inhabitants. The aim of this study is to analyze seasonal and geographical variation in out of hours care use and to find the most important factors influencing it. ⋯ Significant differences between practices suggest that non medical factors may play an important role in the patient's decision to see a GP when the surgery is closed. Their influence should be limited to make the system more efficient.
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Bmc Health Serv Res · Oct 2008
Physical activity referrals in Swedish primary health care - prescriber and patient characteristics, reasons for prescriptions, and prescribed activities.
Over the past decade, practitioners in primary health care (PHC) settings in many countries have issued written prescriptions to patients to promote increased physical activity or exercise. The aim of this study is to describe and analyse a comprehensive physical activity referral (PAR) scheme implemented in a routine PHC setting in Ostergötland County. The study examines characteristics of the PARs recipients and referral practitioners, identifies reasons why practitioners opted to use PARs with their clients, and discusses prescribed activities and prescriptions in relation to PHC registries. ⋯ Ostergötland County's PAR scheme reached a relatively high proportion of physically inactive people visiting local PHC centres for other health reasons. PAR-related statistics, including PAR-rates by individual PHC centres and PAR- rates per health professional category, show differences in prescribing activities, both by patient categories, and by prescribing professionals.