Effect of involving certified healthcare assistants in primary care in Germany: a cross-sectional study
| Autor: | Jonas D Senft, Michel Wensing, Regina Poss-Doering, Gunter Laux, Joachim Szecsenyi |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Male
medicine.medical_specialty Cross-sectional study health services administration & management Geriatric Medicine Vascular damage Radboud Institute for Health Sciences [Radboudumc 16] Allied Health Personnel Psychological intervention Primary care Certification Efficiency Organizational Drug Costs 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Drug Therapy general medicine (see internal medicine) Germany Health care medicine health economics Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Medical prescription Original Research Quality of Health Care Health economics Primary Health Care business.industry Professional development Health Care Costs General Medicine Middle Aged Hospitalization Cross-Sectional Studies Family medicine Female business 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | BMJ Open, 9, e033325 BMJ Open, 9, 12, pp. e033325 BMJ Open |
| ISSN: | 2044-6055 |
| Popis: | ObjectivesGrowing prevalence of chronic diseases and limited resources are the key challenges for future healthcare. As a promising approach to maintain high-quality primary care, non-physician healthcare professionals have been trained to broaden qualifications and responsibilities. This study aimed to assess the influence of involving certified healthcare assistants (HCAs, German: Versorgungsassistent/in in der Hausarztpraxis) on quality and efficacy of primary care in Germany.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingPrimary care.ParticipantsPatients insured by the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK) statutory health insurer (AOK, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany).InterventionsSince 2008 practice assistants in Germany can enhance their professional education to become certified HCAs.Primary and secondary outcome measuresClaims data related to patients treated in practices employing at least one HCA were compared with data from practices not employing HCAs to determine frequency of consultations, hospital admissions and readmissions. Economic analysis comprised hospitalisation costs, prescriptions of follow-on drugs and outpatient medication costs.ResultsA total of 397 493 patients were treated in HCA practices, 463 730 patients attended to non-HCA practices. Patients in HCA practices had an 8.2% lower rate of specialist consultations (pConclusionsFor the first time, this high-volume claims data analysis showed that involving HCAs in primary care in Germany is associated with a reduction in hospital admissions, specialist consultations and medication costs. Consequently, broadening qualifications may be a successful strategy not only to share physicians’ work load but to improve quality and efficacy in primary care to meet future challenges. Future studies may explore specific tasks to be shared with non-physician workforces and standardisation of the professional role. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|