The diagnostic process in primary care: A comparison of general internists and family physicians

1987 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 861-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah E. Simpson ◽  
Eugene C. Rich ◽  
Kathleen A. Dalgaard ◽  
Dwenda Gjerdingen ◽  
Terry W. Crowson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Diagnostic Process ◽  
General Internists

Teaching Normal and Abnormal Behavior to Primary Care Physicians

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uriel Halbreich
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Differential Diagnosis ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Abnormal Behavior ◽  
General Internists ◽  
Education Committee ◽  
Personal Skills

Objective: This article delineates the framework for a curriculum on psychiatry, normal and abnormal human behavior for primary care physicians (PCPs). Methods: Curricula have been surveyed. Members of the Education Committee of the Association of Medicine and Psychiatry, as well as Family Physicians and General Internists involved in education have been consulted. Their recommendations are integrated. Results and Conclusions: The curriculum should be developed according to the needs of PCPs and from their perspective. Patient and problem-oriented, its content can be divided into: a) personal skills that should be developed; and b) knowledge of symptoms, their differential diagnosis (DDX) and management within the PCP's, facilities and abilities.

Training in Primary Care

1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Rothstein
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Family Practice ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
General Internal ◽  
General Internists ◽  
Medical Examinations

Training in primary care has received limited attention in medical schools despite state and federal funding to increase its emphasis. Departments of internal medicine, which have been responsible for most training in primary care, have shifted their interests to the medical subspecialties. Departments of family practice, which have been established by most medical schools in response to government pressure, have had a limited role in the undergraduate curriculum. Residency programs in family practice have become widespread and popular with medical students. Primary care has been defined as that type of medicine practiced by the first physician whom the patient contacts. Most primary care has involved well-patient care, the treatment of a wide variety of functional, acute, self-limited, chronic, and emotional disorders in ambulatory patients, and routine hospital care. Primary care physicians have provided continuing care and coordinated the treatment of their patients by specialists. The major specialties providing primary care have been family practice, general internal medicine, and pediatrics. General and family physicians in particular have been major providers of ambulatory care. This was shown in a study of diaries kept in 1977–1978 by office-based physicians in a number of specialties. General and family physicians treated 33 percent or more of the patients in every age group from childhood to old age. They delivered at least 50 percent of the care for 6 of the 15 most common diagnostic clusters and over 20 percent of the care for the remainder. The 15 clusters, which accounted for 50 percent of all outpatient visits to office-based physicians, included activities related to many specialties, including pre- and postnatal care, ischemic heart disease, depression/anxiety, dermatitis/eczema, and fractures and dislocations. According to the study, ambulatory primary care was also provided by many specialists who have not been considered providers of primary care. A substantial part of the total ambulatory workload of general surgeons involved general medical examinations, upper respiratory ailments, and hypertension. Obstetricians/ gynecologists performed many general medical examinations. The work activities of these and other specialists have demonstrated that training in primary care has been essential for every physician who provides patient care, not just those who plan to become family physicians, general internists, or pediatricians.

scholarly journals The Seniors’ Community Hub: An Integrated Model of Care for the Identification and Management of Frailty in Primary Care

Geriatrics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Marjan Abbasi ◽  
Sheny Khera ◽  
Julia Dabravolskaj ◽  
Bernadette Chevalier ◽  
Kelly Parker
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Gait Speed ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Integrated Models ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Interprofessional Teamwork ◽  
Team Working ◽  
Centered Care

(1) Background: Integrated models of primary care deliver the comprehensive and preventative approach needed to identify and manage frailty in older people. Seniors’ Community Hub (SCH) was developed to deliver person-centered, evidence-informed, coordinated, and integrated care services to older community dwelling adults living with frailty. This paper aims to describe the SCH model, and to present patient-oriented results of the pilot. (2) Methods: SCH was piloted in an academic clinic with six family physicians. Eligible patients were community dwelling, 65 years of age and older, and considered to be at risk of frailty (eFI > 0.12). Health professionals within the clinic received training in geriatrics and interprofessional teamwork to form the SCH team working with family physicians, patients and caregivers. The SCH intervention consisted of a team-based multi-domain assessment with person-centered care planning and follow-up. Patient-oriented outcomes (EQ-5D-5L and EQ-VAS) and 4-metre gait speed were measured at initial visit and 12 months later. (3) Results: 88 patients were enrolled in the pilot from April 2016–December 2018. No statistically significant differences in EQ-5D-5L/VAS or the 4-metre gait speed were detected in 38 patients completing the 12-month assessment. (4) Conclusions: Future larger scale studies of longer duration are needed to demonstrate impacts of integrated models of primary care on patient-oriented outcomes for older adults living with frailty.

scholarly journals Family Physician’s and Primary Care Team’s Perspectives on Supporting Family Caregivers in Primary Care Networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3293
Author(s):  
Jasneet Parmar ◽  
Sharon Anderson ◽  
Marjan Abbasi ◽  
Saeed Ahmadinejad ◽  
Karenn Chan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Care Team ◽  
Primary Care Team ◽  
Caregiver Support ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Primary Care Teams ◽  
Support Family

Background. Research, practice, and policy have focused on educating family caregivers to sustain care but failed to equip healthcare providers to effectively support family caregivers. Family physicians are well-positioned to care for family caregivers. Methods. We adopted an interpretive description design to explore family physicians and primary care team members’ perceptions of their current and recommended practices for supporting family caregivers. We conducted focus groups with family physicians and their primary care team members. Results. Ten physicians and 42 team members participated. We identified three major themes. “Family physicians and primary care teams can be a valuable source of support for family caregivers” highlighted these primary care team members’ broad recognition of the need to support family caregiver’s health. “What stands in the way” spoke to the barriers in current practices that precluded supporting family caregivers. Primary care teams recommended, “A structured approach may be a way forward.” Conclusion. A plethora of research and policy documents recommend proactive, consistent support for family caregivers, yet comprehensive caregiver support policy remains elusive. The continuity of care makes primary care an ideal setting to support family caregivers. Now policy-makers must develop consistent protocols to assess, and care for family caregivers in primary care.

scholarly journals Long Covid-19: Proposed Primary Care Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosis and Disease Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4350
Author(s):  
Antoni Sisó-Almirall ◽  
Pilar Brito-Zerón ◽  
Laura Conangla Ferrín ◽  
Belchin Kostov ◽  
Anna Moragas Moreno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Disease Management ◽  
Signs And Symptoms ◽  
Diagnostic Process ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Patient Groups

Long COVID-19 may be defined as patients who, four weeks after the diagnosis of SARS-Cov-2 infection, continue to have signs and symptoms not explainable by other causes. The estimated frequency is around 10% and signs and symptoms may last for months. The main long-term manifestations observed in other coronaviruses (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)) are very similar to and have clear clinical parallels with SARS-CoV-2: mainly respiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuropsychiatric. The growing number of patients worldwide will have an impact on health systems. Therefore, the main objective of these clinical practice guidelines is to identify patients with signs and symptoms of long COVID-19 in primary care through a protocolized diagnostic process that studies possible etiologies and establishes an accurate differential diagnosis. The guidelines have been developed pragmatically by compiling the few studies published so far on long COVID-19, editorials and expert opinions, press releases, and the authors’ clinical experience. Patients with long COVID-19 should be managed using structured primary care visits based on the time from diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Based on the current limited evidence, disease management of long COVID-19 signs and symptoms will require a holistic, longitudinal follow up in primary care, multidisciplinary rehabilitation services, and the empowerment of affected patient groups.

scholarly journals The PUFFinCA scale: development of an instrument for evaluating the primary care functions of family physicians in childhood asthma

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayşe Nur Usturali Mut ◽  
Zeliha Aslı Öcek ◽  
Meltem Çiçeklioğlu ◽  
Şafak Taner ◽  
Esen Demir
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Childhood Asthma ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Asthma Management ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Care Assessment ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Children With Asthma

AbstractAimTo develop the Primary care fUnctions oF Family physicians in Childhood Asthma (PUFFinCA) scale for evaluating the cardinal process functions of primary care services (accessibility, comprehensiveness, continuity and coordination) provided by family physicians (FPs) in the management of childhood asthma.BackgroundIn the literature on the functions of primary care, there is no assessment tool focusing on children with asthma. Primary care assessment scales adapted to various languages are not suitable to adequately address the needs of special patient groups, such as children with asthma.MethodsIn this methodological study, the instrument development process was completed in four stages: establishing the pool of items, evaluating the content validity, applying the scale and statistical analysis. The scale was applied to 320 children who had asthma and received care in the clinic of the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Pulmonology at Ege University School of Medicine, Turkey. The Cronbach’s α and Spearman–Brown coefficient were calculated to determine the reliability of the scale. Principal component analysis was used to determine the construct validity of the scale.FindingsThe PUFFinCA scale was found to have four-factor structure and 25 items. Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.93. It has been determined that the reliability was excellent and the item-total correlation coefficients were >0.30 each. The factors were titled FP’s ‘functions of accessibility, first contact and continuity’, ‘functions of coordination and comprehensiveness of health services related to asthma management’, ‘provision of preventive care related to asthma’ and ‘provision of services for paid vaccinations’.

Checklists to prevent diagnostic errors: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Diagnosis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Ely ◽  
Mark A. Graber
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Usual Care ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Diagnostic Errors ◽  
Diagnostic Error ◽  
Diagnostic Process ◽  
Emergency Physicians ◽  
Mean Error ◽  
Premature Closure

AbstractMany diagnostic errors are caused by premature closure of the diagnostic process. To help prevent premature closure, we developed checklists that prompt physicians to consider all reasonable diagnoses for symptoms that commonly present in primary care.We enrolled 14 primary care physicians and 100 patients in a randomized clinical trial. The study took place in an emergency department (5 physicians) and a same-day access clinic (9 physicians). The physicians were randomized to usual care vs. diagnostic checklist. After completing the history and physical exam, checklist physicians read aloud a differential diagnosis checklist for the chief complaint. The primary outcome was diagnostic error, which was defined as a discrepancy between the diagnosis documented at the acute visit and the diagnosis based on a 1-month follow-up phone call and record review.There were 17 diagnostic errors. The mean error rate among the seven checklist physicians was not significantly different from the rate among the seven usual-care physicians (11.2% vs. 17.8%; p=0.46). In a post-hoc subgroup analysis, emergency physicians in the checklist group had a lower mean error rate than emergency physicians in the usual-care group (19.1% vs. 45.0%; p=0.04). Checklist physicians considered more diagnoses than usual-care physicians during the patient encounters (6.5 diagnoses [SD 4.2] vs. 3.4 diagnoses [SD 2.0], p<0.001).Checklists did not improve the diagnostic error rate in this study. However further development and testing of checklists in larger studies may be warranted.

scholarly journals Primary Care Practise in Turkey and Training of Contracted Family Physicians

2016 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Yildiz Yardimci ◽  
Derya Akbiyik ◽  
Cenk Aypak ◽  
Hulya Yikilkan ◽  
Suleyman Gorpelioglu
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
And Training

scholarly journals Use of Heuristics during the clinical decision process in from family physicians in real conditions.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Fernández Aguilar ◽  
José-Jesús Martín-Martín ◽  
Sergio Minué-Lorenzo ◽  
Alberto Fernández Ajuria
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Decision Process ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Clinical Decision ◽  
Diagnostic Error ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Statistical Correlation ◽  
Diagnostic Process ◽  
Representativeness Heuristic ◽  
Definition Of

Rationale, aims and objectives: The available evidence on the existence and consequences of the use of heuristics in the clinical decision process is very scarce. The purpose of this study is to measure the use of the Representativeness, Availability and Overconfidence heuristics in real conditions with Primary Care physicians in cases of dyspnea and to study the possible correlation with diagnostic error. Methods: A prospective cohort study was carried out in 4 Primary Care centers in which 371 new cases or dyspnea were registered. The use of the three heuristics in the diagnostic process is measured through an operational definition of the same. Subsequently, the statistical correlation with the identified clinical errors is analyzed. Results: In 9.97% of the registered cases a diagnostic error was identified. In 49.59% of the cases, the physicians used the representativeness heuristic in the diagnostic decision process. The availability heuristic was used by 82.38% of the doctors and finally, in more than 50% of the cases the doctors showed excess confidence. None of the heuristics showed a statistically significant correlation with diagnostic error. Conclusion: The three heuristics have been used as mental shortcuts by Primary Care physicians in the clinical decision process in cases of dyspnea, but their influence on the diagnostic error is not significant. New studies based on the proposed methodology will allow confirming both its importance and its association with diagnostic error.

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