[Organization and practice in family medicine. What's new in the 2024 literature?] / Organisation des soins en médecine de famille. Quoi de neuf dans la littérature scientifique en 2024 ?

This is a selection of some important studies recently published and dealing with several key organization and functioning features of family medicine. This year, the articles focus on organizational responses to emergencies in family medicine. In this field, the use of primary care professionals other than physicians is an interesting solution. One article examines direct access to a physiotherapist, with very positive results, while a second explores the wide-ranging skills of advanced practice nurses in the emergency field. In some countries, such as Belgium, the use of teleconsultation in primary care is also being considered to avoid inappropriate use of hospital emergencies. Finally, more macroscopic organizational aspects of the healthcare system and the role of primary care in health emergencies will be considered in the last article.

Cet article présente une sélection d'études récemment publiées et explorant différents aspects du fonctionnement de la médecine de famille (MF). Elles sont centrées sur les réponses organisationnelles face à l'urgence en MF. Dans ce domaine, le recours à d'autres professionnels de soins primaires que les médecins est une approche intéressante. Ainsi un premier article porte sur l'accès direct au physiothérapeute et montre des résultats très positifs ; un second décrit les compétences des infirmières de pratique avancée mobilisables dans l'urgence. Le recours à la téléconsultation est aussi envisagé pour une utilisation plus appropriée des urgences hospitalières dans certains pays. Enfin, les aspects organisationnels plus macroscopiques sur la place des soins primaires dans l'urgence sanitaire sont réfléchis dans un dernier article.

Residência de Medicina de Família e Comunidade: percepções de egressos sobre sua formação e processo de trabalho / Residencia de medicina de familia y comunidad: percepciones de egresados sobre su formación y proceso de trabajo / Family and Community Medicine Residency: graduates' insights about their education and work process

Analisou-se como as residências de Medicina de Família e Comunidade (RMFC) de uma capital da região norte do Brasil contribuíram para a formação e o desenvolvimento do atual processo de trabalho de seus egressos. Estudo exploratório, descritivo e transversal, com abordagem qualitativa focada em 31 egressos por meio de aplicação de questionário eletrônico com perguntas abertas. As respostas foram interpretadas por Análise de Conteúdo Temática, constituídas por quatro categorias empíricas: a formação em Medicina de Família e Comunidade (MFC) no processo de trabalho do egresso; reconhecimento e aplicação dos atributos da Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS); potências da formação em RMFC; e os desafios da especialidade. Os programas de RMFC estudados contribuem para a formação da prática profissional e do perfil dos seus egressos por meio do fortalecimento e da efetivação dos atributos da Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS), inclusive estendendo-se para além da especialidade.(AU)

Se analizó cómo las residencias de Medicina de Familia y Comunidad (RMFC) de una capital de la región Norte de Brasil contribuyeron en la formación y el desarrollo del actual proceso de trabajo de sus egresados. Estudio exploratorio, descriptivo y transversal, con abordaje cualitativo enfocado en 31 egresados por medio de la aplicación de cuestionario electrónico con preguntas abiertas. Las respuestas se interpretaron por Análisis de Contenido Temático, constituyéndose cuatro categorías empíricas: la formación en Medicina de Familia y Comunidad (MFC) en el proceso de trabajo del egresado; reconocimiento y aplicación de los tributos de la Atención Primaria de la Salud (APS); potencias de la formación en RMFC y los desafíos de la especialidad. Los programas de RMFC estudiados contribuyen con la formación de la práctica profesional y con el perfil de sus egresados por medio del fortalecimiento y puesta en práctica de los atributos de la APS, incluso ampliándose más allá de la especialidad.(AU)

The article analyzed how the Residency in Family and Community Medicine (RFCM) in a capital of the Northern region of Brazil contributed to the formation and development of the current work process of its graduates. This is an exploratory, descriptive and cross-sectional study, with a qualitative approach focused on 31 graduates, through electronic questionnaires with open questions. The answers were interpreted based on the Content Analysis Thematic technique, constituting four empirical categories: training in Family and Community Medicine (FCM) in the graduate's work process; recognition and application of the attributes of Primary Health Care (PHC); potentials of the FCM training and the challenges of the specialty. The analyzed data show that the studied Programs contribute to the education for professional practice and the profile of its graduates through the strengthening and implementation of the Primary Health Care (PHC) attributes, also extending beyond the specialty.(AU)

Hacia un modelo de atención en salud para el siglo XXI: breve historia del modelo de atención integrada en Chile / Towards a Health Care Model for the 21st Century: a brief history of the integrated care model in Chile

El desarrollo y organización del sistema sanitario en Chile tuvo importantes cambios durante la segunda mitad del siglo pasado, los que permitieron al país mejorar sustantivamente algunos índices de salud poblacional. Por otra parte, tanto el cambio de paradigma biomédico que surgió en el mundo durante las últimas décadas del siglo XX y que se orientaba hacia un modelo biopsicosocial de salud, como la aparición del concepto de Atención Primaria de Salud (APS) como una estrategia de intervención social, se sumaron al cambio en el perfil epidemiológico y demográfico del país y a las expectativas de la población, para alzarse todos ellos como factores catalizadores de un nuevo cambio en la forma de organizar la atención de salud en Chile. Esto generó un espacio para el desarrollo y fortalecimiento del nivel primario de atención de salud y de la medicina ambulatoria, lo que impulsó también la aparición de una nueva generación de especialistas que fueran capaces de dar solución a la gran mayoría de los problemas de las personas y de las comunidades, los médicos especialistas en Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria. Esta nueva forma de organización sanitaria, actualmente vigente en Chile, y que se enmarca dentro del Modelo de Atención Integral de Salud iniciado a comienzos del siglo XXI, está basado en un sistema de salud sustentado en el modelo biopsicosocial y en la APS; y su eje primordial son las personas, las familias y las comunidades.

The development and organization of the health system in Chile underwent important changes during the second half of the last century that allowed the country to substantially improve some population health indices. On the other hand, both the change in the biomedical paradigm that emerged in the world during the last decades of the 20th century and which was oriented towards a biopsychosocial model of health, as well as the appearance of the concept of Primary Health Care as a social intervention strategy, they added to the change in the epidemiological and demographic profile of the country and the expectations of the population, all of them rising as catalysts for a new change in the way of organizing health care in Chile. This created a space for the development and strengthening of the primary level of health care and outpatient medicine, which also promoted the emergence of a new generation of specialists who were capable of solving the vast majority of people's problems. and from the communities, specialists in Family and Community Medicine. This new form of health organization, currently in force in Chile, and which is part of the Comprehensive Health Care Model initiated at the beginning of the 21st century, is based on a health system based on the biopsychosocial model and PHC; and its main axis are people, families and communities.

Changes in family medicine visits across sociodemographic groups after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened socioeconomic disparities in access to primary care. Given these concerns, we investigated whether the pandemic affected visits to family physicians differently across sociodemographic groups. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using electronic medical records from family physician practices within the University of Toronto Practice-Based Research Network. We evaluated primary care visits for a fixed cohort of patients who were active within the database as of Jan. 1, 2019, to estimate the number of patients who visited their family physician (visitor rate) and the number of distinct visits (visit volume) between Jan. 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. We compared trends in visitor rate and visit volume during the pandemic (Mar. 14 to June 30, 2020) with the same period in the previous year (Mar. 14 to June 30, 2019) across sociodemographic factors, including age, sex, neighbourhood income, material deprivation and ethnic concentration. RESULTS: We included 365 family physicians and 372 272 patients. Compared with the previous year, visitor rates during the pandemic period dropped by 34.5%, from 357 visitors per 1000 people to 292 visitors per 1000 people. Declines in visit volume during the pandemic were less pronounced (21.8% fewer visits), as the mean number of visits per patient increased during the pandemic (from 1.64 to 1.96). The declines in visitor rate and visit volume varied based on patient age and sex, but not socioeconomic status. INTERPRETATION: Although the number of visits to family physicians dropped substantially during the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, patients from communities with low socioeconomic status did not appear to be disproportionately affected. In this primary care setting, the pandemic appears not to have worsened socioeconomic disparities in access to care.

The COVID-19 Pandemic in Nijmegen, the Netherlands: Changes in Presented Health Problems and Demand for Primary Care.

We studied the changes in presented health problems and demand for primary care since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Netherlands. We analyzed prominent symptom features of COVID-19, and COVID-19 itself as the reason for encounter. Also, we analyzed the number and type of encounters for common important health problems. Respiratory tract symptoms related to COVID-19 were presented more often in 2020 than in 2019. We observed a dramatic increase of telephone/e-mail/Internet consultations in the months after the outbreak. Contacts for other health problems such as prevention and acute and chronic conditions plummeted substantially (P <0.001); mental health problems stabilized.

Observer Ratings of Shared Decision Making Do Not Match Patient Reports: An Observational Study in 5 Family Medicine Practices.

BACKGROUND: Measuring shared decision making (SDM) in clinical practice is important to improve the quality of health care. Measurement can be done by trained observers and by people participating in the clinical encounter, namely, patients. This study aimed to describe the correlations between patients' and observers' ratings of SDM using 2 validated and 2 nonvalidated SDM measures in clinical consultations. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 238 complete dyads of health professionals and patients in 5 university-affiliated family medicine clinics in Canada. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires before and after audio-recorded medical consultations. Observers rated the occurrence of SDM during medical consultations using both the validated OPTION-5 (the 5-item "observing patient involvement" score) and binary questions on risk communication and values clarification (RCVC-observer). Patients rated SDM using both the 9-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q9) and binary questions on risk communication and values clarification (RCVC-patient). RESULTS: Agreement was low between observers' and patients' ratings of SDM using validated OPTION-5 and SDM-Q9, respectively (ρ = 0.07; P = 0.38). Observers' ratings using RCVC-observer were correlated to patients' ratings using either SDM-Q9 (rpb = -0.16; P = 0.01) or RCVC-patients (rpb = 0.24; P = 0.03). Observers' OPTION-5 scores and patients' ratings using RCVC-questions were moderately correlated (rφ = 0.33; P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: There was moderate to no alignment between observers' and patients' ratings of SDM using both validated and nonvalidated measures. This lack of strong correlation emphasizes that observer and patient perspectives are not interchangeable. When assessing the presence, absence, or extent of SDM, it is important to clearly state whose perspectives are reflected.

Development and evolution of a two-day intensive resident experience in geriatric medicine.

As the older adult population increases, the need to enhance medical education and training in Geriatric Medicine (GM) is essential. To enhance resident training, faculty at two southeastern universities developed a Resident Award Summit, a two-day active learning experience, designed to expose family and internal medicine residents to GM principles and the various career options available in GM.Over 10 years, 353 residents from 108 residency programs participated. Resident feedback indicated that attending the event had a positive impact on future practice (M = 4.65, SD = .58) and showed that the amount of GM training received was limited, with 83.5% and 70.2% ranking adequacy of medical student and resident training as limited, respectively.To impact practice, long-term change must occur. Experiences such as the Resident Award Summit allow GM faculty to educate and prepare residents though positive teaching experiences, providing residents with the skills needed to care for older adults in their communities.

How Should Board Certification Evolve?

Family Medicine was a child of the 1960s. Triggered by compelling social need for care outside of large hospitals, Family Medicine emphasized access to personal physicians based in the community. As a protest movement, the ABFP required ongoing recertification for all Diplomates, with both independent examination and chart audit. Fifty years later, society and health care have changed dramatically, and it is time again to consider how Board Certification must respond to those change. We propose three interlocking arguments. First, even before COVID-19, health and health care have been in a time of fundamental transformation. Second, given the role Board Certification plays in supporting improvement of healthcare, Board Certification itself must respond to these changes. Third, to move forward, ABFM and the wider Board community must address a series of wicked problems - i.e., problems which are both complex-with many root causes-and complicated- in which interventions create new problems. The wicked problems confronting board certification include: 1) combining summative and formative assessment, 2) improving quality improvement and 3) reaffirming the social contract and professionalism and its assessment.

Characteristics of Family Medicine Residency Graduates, 1994-2017: An Update.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to characterize graduates of family medicine (FM) residencies from 1994 to 2017 and determine whether they continue to practice family medicine after residency. METHOD: We sampled physicians who completed FM residency training from 1994-2017 using 2017 American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile linked with administrative files of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM). The main outcomes measured were characteristics of FM residency graduates, including medical degree type (Doctor of Medicine, MD vs Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, DO), international medical school graduates (IMGs) vs US graduates, sex, ABFM certification status, and self-designated primary specialty. Family medicine residency graduates were grouped into 4-year cohorts by year of residency completion. RESULTS: From 1994 to 2017, 66,778 residents completed training in an ACGME accredited FM residency, averaging 2,782 graduates per year. The number of FM residency graduates peaked in 1998-2001, averaging 3,053 each year. The composition of FM residents diversified with large increases in DOs, IMGs, and female graduates over the past 24 years. Of all the FM residency graduates, 91.9% claimed FM as their primary specialty and 81% were certified with ABFM in 2017. FM/sport medicine (2.1%), FM/geriatric medicine (0.9%), internal medicine/geriatrics (0.8%), and emergency medicine (0.7%) were the most common non-FM primary specialties reported. CONCLUSIONS: DOs, IMGs, and female family medicine residency graduates increased from 1994 to 2017. With 9 in 10 graduates of family medicine residencies designating FM as their primary specialty, FM residency programs not only train but supply family physicians who are likely to remain in the primary care workforce.

The Financial Cost of Medical Assistant Turnover in an Academic Family Medicine Center.

INTRODUCTION: Primary care clinics increasingly hire medical assistants (MAs) to perform a variety of clinical and administrative tasks. Anecdotal reports suggest that MA turnover is high, but no studies to date have calculated the rate or cost of MA turnover. The purpose of this study was to calculate the rate of MA turnover and associated costs in a single, large academic Family Medicine clinic. METHODS: Retrospective data were collected from clinic administrators regarding MA turnover, overtime worked, salaries and benefits as well as administrator salaries and benefits and the amount of administrator time spent in MA hiring, training, and termination in 2017. RESULTS: During 2017, MA turnover rate was 59%. The total estimated cost of MA turnover was $213,000. The per-MA cost of turnover was $14,200, or approximately 40% of the average annual salary of MAs. CONCLUSION: Turnover rate in this practice was similar to other estimates of primary care clinic staff and allied health professionals. The estimated cost of MA turnover relative to annual salary was significantly greater than that in other fields, likely reflecting the costs of training MAs. Establishing a method for calculating the turnover rate and costs can allow other healthcare systems to better describe turnover and evaluate retention strategies.

High Volume Portal Usage Impacts Practice Resources.

Patient portals have both patient-centered benefits and substantial impacts on practices. Successful implementation of a patient portal can be achieved with a comprehensive team approach. Increased portal usage results in high-volume patient secure messaging. We describe the impact of high patient message volume on our fee-for-service academic family medicine practice. Practice adaptations are necessary to manage volume, length, and complexity of messages. Dedicated staff with specialized training to handle patient messages and ample protected time for providers are important to minimize clerical burden associated with patient portal use.