The Role of General Practice in Complex Health Care Systems.

According to the WHO, in a complex system, "there are so many interacting parts that it is difficult (…), to predict the behavior of the system based on knowledge of its component parts. "In countries without general practitioner (GP)-gatekeeping, the number of possible interactions and therefore the complexity increases. Patients may consult any doctor without contacting their GP. Family medicine core values, e.g., comprehensive care, and core tasks, e.g., care coordination, might be harder to implement and maintain. How are GPs perceived and how do they perceive themselves if no GP-gatekeeping exists? Does the absence of any GP-gatekeeping influence family medicine core values? A PubMed and Cochrane search was performed. The results are summarized in form of a narrative review. Four perspectives regarding the GP's role were identified. The GPs' self-perception regarding family medicine core values and tasks is independent of their function as gatekeepers, but they appreciate this role. Patient satisfaction is also independent of the health care system. Depending on the acquisition of income, specialists have different opinions of GP-gatekeeping. Policymakers want GPs to play a central role within the health care system, but do not commit to full gatekeeping. The GPs and policymakers emphasize the importance of family medicine specialty training. Further international studies are needed to determine if family medicine core values and tasks can be better accomplished by GP-gatekeeping. Specialty training should be mandatory in all countries to enable GPs to fulfill these values and tasks and to act as coordinators and/or gatekeepers.

The Optimizing-Risk-Communication (OptRisk) randomized trial - impact of decision-aid-based consultation on adherence and perception of cardiovascular risk.

BACKGROUND: Shared decision-making is a well-established approach to increasing patient participation in medical decisions. Increasingly, using lifetime-risk or time-to-event (TTE) formats has been suggested, as these might have advantages in comparison with a 10-year risk prognosis, particularly for younger patients, whose lifetime risk for some events may be considerably greater than their 10-year risk. In this study, a randomized trial, the most popular 10-year risk illustration in the decision-aid software Arriba (emoticons), is compared with a newly developed TTE illustration, which is based on a Markov model. The study compares the effect of these two methods of presenting cardiovascular risk to patients on their subsequent adherence to intervention. METHODS: A total of 294 patients were interviewed 3 months after they had had a consultation with their GP on cardiovascular risk prevention. Adherence to behavioral change or medication intervention was measured as the primary outcome. The latter was expressed as a generated score. Furthermore, different secondary outcomes were measured, ie, patient perception of risk and self-rated importance of avoiding a cardiovascular event, as well as patient numeracy, which was used as a proxy for patient health literacy. RESULTS: Overall, no significant difference in patient adherence was found depending on risk representation. In the emoticon group, the number of interventions had a significant impact on the adherence score (P=0.025). Perception of risk was significantly higher in patients counseled with the TTE risk display, whereas the importance of avoiding a cardiovascular event was rated equally highly in both groups and actually increased over time. CONCLUSION: The TTE format is an appropriate means for counseling patients. Adherence is a very complex construct, which cannot be fully explained by our findings. The study results support our call for considering TTE illustrations as a valuable alternative to current decision-support tools covering cardiovascular prevention. Nevertheless, further research is needed to shed light on patient motivation and adherence with regard to cardiovascular risk prevention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at the German Clinical Trials Register and at the WHO International Clinical Trials Register Platform (ICTRP, ID DRKS00004933); registered February 2, 2016 (retrospectively registered).

The effect of a new lifetime-cardiovascular-risk display on patients' motivation to participate in shared decision-making.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the effects of three different risk displays used in a cardiovascular risk calculator on patients' motivation for shared decision-making (SDM). We compared a newly developed time-to-event (TTE) display with two established absolute risk displays (i.e. emoticons and bar charts). The accessibility, that is, how understandable, helpful, and trustworthy patients found each display, was also investigated. METHODS: We analysed a sample of 353 patients recruited in general practices. After giving consent, patients were introduced to one of three fictional vignettes with low, medium or high cardiovascular risk. All three risk displays were shown in a randomized order. Patients were asked to rate each display with regard to motivation for SDM and accessibility. Two-factorial repeated measures analyses of variance were conducted to compare the displays and investigate possible interactions with age. RESULTS: Regarding motivation for SDM, the TTE elicited the highest motivation, followed by the emoticons and bar chart (p < .001). The displays had no differential influence on the age groups (p = .445). While the TTE was generally rated more accessible than the emoticons and bar chart (p < .001), the emoticons were only superior to the bar chart in the younger subsample. However, this was only to a small effect (interaction between display and age, p < .01, η 2 = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Using fictional case vignettes, the novel TTE display was superior regarding motivation for SDM and accessibility when compared to established displays using emoticons and a bar chart. If future research can replicate these results in real-life consultations, the TTE display will be a valuable addition to current risk calculators and decision aids by improving patients' participation.

[The new German guideline on rhinosinusitis - an abbreviated version]. / Die neue Leitlinie Rhinosinusitis ­ eine Miniaturversion.

At the beginning of this year, the new German guideline on rhinosinusitis was published as a joint guideline of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and the German College of General Practitioners and Family Physicians. The guideline was designed for the treatment of adult patients with inflammatory diseases of the paranasal sinuses and is addressed to all medical specialties involved in the management of these diseases. The current challenge is the implementation of this guideline in the clinical daily routine. For this purpose, an abbreviated version (miniature) was designed.

[Coding in general practice-Will the ICD-11 be a step forward?] / Codieren in der Hausarztpraxis ­ Wird die ICD-11 ein Fortschritt sein?

Primary care physicians in Germany don't benefit from coding diagnoses-they are coding for the needs of others. For coding, they mostly are using either the thesaurus of the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) or self-made cheat-sheets. Coding quality is low but seems to be sufficient for the main use case of the resulting data, which is the morbidity adjusted risk compensation scheme that distributes financial resources between the many German health insurance companies.Neither the International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems (ICD-10) nor the German thesaurus as an interface terminology are adequate for coding in primary care. The ICD-11 itself will not recognizably be a step forward from the perspective of primary care. At least the browser database format will be advantageous. An implementation into the 182 different electronic health records (EHR) on the German market would probably standardize the coding process and make code finding easier. This method of coding would still be more cumbersome than the current coding with self-made cheat-sheets.The first steps towards a useful official cheat-sheet for primary care have been taken, awaiting implementation and evaluation. The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2) already provides an adequate classification standard for primary care that can also be used in combination with ICD-10. A new version of ICPC (ICPC-3) is under development. As the ICPC-2 has already been integrated into the foundation layer of ICD-11 it might easily become the future standard for coding in primary care. Improving communication between the different EHR would make taking over codes from other healthcare providers possible. Another opportunity to improve the coding quality might be creating use cases for the resulting data for the primary care physicians themselves.

Time-to-event versus ten-year-absolute-risk in cardiovascular risk prevention - does it make a difference? Results from the Optimizing-Risk-Communication (OptRisk) randomized-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The concept of shared-decision-making is a well-established approach to increase the participation of patients in medical decisions. Using lifetime risk or time-to-event (TTE) formats has been increasingly suggested as they might have advantages, e.g. in younger patients, to better show consequences of unhealthy behaviour. In this study, the most-popular ten-year risk illustration in the decision-aid-software arribaTM (emoticons), is compared within a randomised trial to a new-developed TTE illustration, which is based on a Markov model. METHODS: Thirty-two General Practitioners (GPs) took part in the study. A total of 304 patients were recruited and counseled by their GPs with arribaTM, and randomized to either the emoticons or the TTE illustration, followed by a patient questionnaire to figure out the degree of shared-decision-making (PEF-FB9, German questionnaire to measure the participation in the shared decision-making process, primary outcome), as well as the decisional conflict, perceived risk, accessibility and the degree of information, which are all secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Regarding our primary outcome PEF-FB9 the new TTE illustration is not inferior compared to the well-established emoticons taking the whole study population into account. Furthermore, the non-inferiority of the innovative TTE could be confirmed for all secondary outcome variables. The explorative analysis indicates even advantages in younger patients (below 46 years of age). CONCLUSION: The TTE format seems to be as useful as the well-established emoticons. For certain patient populations, especially younger patients, the TTE may be even superior to demonstrate a cardiovascular risk at early stages. Our results suggest that time-to-event illustrations should be considered for current decision support tools covering cardiovascular prevention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at the German Clinical Trials Register and at the WHO International Clinical Trials Register Platform ( ICTRP, ID DRKS00004933 ); registered 2 February 2016 (retrospectively registered).

[The Quality indicator project of the German college of general practice and family medicine (DEGAM): development of indicators based on the guidelines dementia, neck pain and sore throat]. / Entwicklung und Bewertung von Qualitätsindikatoren aus den Leitlinien Halsschmerzen, Nackenschmerzen und Demenz der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Allgemeinmedizin und Familienmedizin (DEGAM).

A debate on the application of quality indicators (QIs) arose among the members of the German College of General Practitioners and Family Physicians (DEGAM) when two QI systems for ambulatory care (QISA and AQUIK) were published in a short time interval. A research question that emanated from this discussion was whether appropriate QI might be developed based on German general practice guidelines. In spring 2010, the DEGAM guideline committee (SLK) decided to conduct a project on guideline-based development of QIs using the DEGAM guidelines for dementia, neck pain and sore throat. All members of the SLK were invited to participate in the development process which comprised three face-to-face meetings and four paper-pencil ratings. Finally, 17 QIs for the three guidelines on dementia (n=8), neck pain (n=7) and sore throat (n=2) emerged. These QIs received different ratings in the dimensions relevance, practicability, and appropriateness for public reporting as well as for pay for performance. In this project, guideline authors themselves developed QIs based on German general practice guidelines for the first time ever. Not before practice administration systems facilitate the availability of data in the context of clinical documentation, the practicability of the new QIs can be proven in real every-day practice.

Arriba: effects of an educational intervention on prescribing behaviour in prevention of CVD in general practice.

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the effectiveness of educational interventions on prescribing behaviour modification in prevention of cardiovascular disease is still insufficient. We evaluated the effects of a brief educational intervention on prescription of hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), inhibitors of platelet aggregation (IPA), and antihypertensive agents (AH). DESIGN: Cluster randomised controlled trial with continuous medical education (CME) groups of general practitioners (GPs). METHODS: Prescription of statins, IPA, and AH were verified prior to study start (BL), immediately after index consultation (IC), and at follow-up after 6 months (FU). Prescription in patients at high risk (>15% risk of a cardiovascular event in 10 years, based on the Framingham equation) and no prescription in low-risk patients (≤ 15%) were considered appropriate. RESULTS: An intervention effect on prescribing could only be found for IPA. Generally, changes in prescription over time were all directed towards higher prescription rates and persisted to FU, independent of risk status and group allocation. CONCLUSIONS: The active implementation of a brief evidence-based educational intervention on global risk in CVD did not lead directly to risk-adjusted changes in prescription. Investigations on an extended time scale would capture whether decision support of this kind would improve prescribing risk-adjusted sustainably.