BACKGROUND Primary care (PC) allows patients to address most of their health needs and is essential for high quality healthcare systems. The aim of the study was to analyze the insight of nine core dimensions of Polish PC system: "Economic conditions", "Workforce", "Accessibility", "Comprehensiveness", "Continuity", "Coordination", "Quality of care", "Efficiency" and "Equity" and to identify th...

PURPOSE The purpose of this article was to examine primary care providers' perceived challenges when implementing evidence-based diabetes self-management guidelines and opportunities for promoting the use of such guidelines in practice. METHODS We engaged 3 group discussions with 43 key stakeholders representing family physicians, medical directors, and quality assurance leaders in a large, u...

Equity must be the basis of primary health care if reform is to deliver the outcomes we all want.

Mental, neurological and substance use disorders (MNS) are a leading cause of disability in Africa. In response to the large treatment gap for MNS, a growing body of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) is emerging from Africa; however, there is a dearth of knowledge on how to scale up EBT. The Friendship Bench intervention is a brief psychological treatment delivered through the primary health car...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To develop a quantitative methodology to optimally site new primary health care facilities so as to achieve the maximum population level increase in accessibility to care. The study aims to test the methodology in a rural community characterised by considerable heterogeneity in population distribution and health care access. DESIGN A geographical information system was used to...

Pay-for-performance (P4P) reimbursement has become a popular and growing form of health care payment built on the belief that payment incentives strongly affect medical providers’ behavior. By paying more to those providers who are deemed to deliver better care, the goal is to increase quality and, hopefully, restrain cost growth. This article provides a brief explanation of: (1) how previous P...

conclusions although the majority of women had pcc records and received advice from healthcare professionals to carry out pchbs, most of them did not adhere to the pchb guideline recommendations. it is therefore suggested that strategies should be adopted to establish pcc services in the healthcare system and encourage clients to adhere to the pchb guideline recommended by the ministry of healt...

BACKGROUND Regular review and support for asthma self-management is promoted in guidelines. A randomised controlled trial suggested that unscheduled health care usage was similar when patients were offered self management support by a lay-trainer or practice nurses. METHODS Following the RCT, a costing study was undertaken using the trial data to account for the cost of delivery of the servic...

Employers are beginning to recognize that investing in the primary care foundation of the health care system may help address their problems of rising health care costs and uneven quality. Primary care faces a crisis as a growing number of U.S. medical graduates are avoiding primary care careers because of relatively low reimbursement and an unsatisfying work life. Yet a strong primary care sec...