Implementation of a systematic health maintenance protocol in a private practice.
The impact of a policy to introduce a simple health maintenance protocol systematically to all patients belonging to a private practice is reported. Results after 18 months' experience in over 1400 patients indicate that (1) physician compliance was excellent (97% of eligible patients were included, and physician time taken to introduce the protocol at the index visit took less than 4 minutes), and (2) patient acceptance (which varied from procedure to procedure) was good to excellent (minimum acceptance: 77% for sigmoidoscopy; maximum acceptance: 97% for cholesterol screening). For patients seen once, acceptance rates for procedures were generally comparable to prior published performance rates for highly selected patient populations. Integration of a simple health maintenance protocol into routine office care of unselected primary care patients was feasible, effective, and acceptable to patients. Patient refusal was a minor barrier to performance of health maintenance.
Hahn
D L
DL
Arcand Park Clinic, Division of Dean Medical Center, Madison, WI 53704.
Berger
M G
MG
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011331:Private Practice; D014481:United States