Rethinking general practice for the 21st century. The patient counts!
BACKGROUND
Increasingly, reforms to health care systems appear to interfere with the traditional (healer) role of the general practitioner, and are perceived to disrupt patient care and the therapeutic relationship.


OBJECTIVE
To outline measures for the survival and future development of the discipline of general practice in Australia.


CONCLUSIONS
In order to preserve longitudinal relationship centred care and high level primary care clinical expertise, health bureaucracies and general practice itself, must re-focus care on the individual and community, integrating new developments rather than allowing 'new ideas and system pressures' to continually distort functional general practice.
Sturmberg
Joachim P
JP
Department of General Practice, Monash University, Victoria. achim.sturmberg@iname.com
Martin
Carmel
C
Piterman
Leon
L
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005194:Family Practice / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D005544:Forecasting; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*