[Statements of general practitioners on cooperation with specialists and a future health care system].
OBJECTIVE
Ideas of general practitioners (GPs) could be of value for the restructuring of the German ambulant health care system. The way managed care is seen by GPs is of particular interest. The aim of this study was to record opinions of GPs, working in Berlin, in regard to several aspects of their daily work.


METHODS
14 female and 16 male GPs from Berlin participated in a qualitative survey. These 30 GPs were interviewed about their attitude toward cooperation with specialized colleagues and their opinions on a future medical care system. The interviews performed were summarized, structured and analyzed according to the qualitative content analysis by Mayring.


RESULTS
From the GPs' point of view, ambulant cooperation is facilitated by knowing specialized colleagues, by staying in close contact to them via telephone and by being able to arrange short-term appointments with these specialists. A closer cooperation with specialists in a network as well as an advanced use of digital information systems for accessing patients' data were considered to be vital elements for a future health care system.


CONCLUSIONS
An important reason for choosing the cooperation with specialists is to find quick comprehensive treatment strategies for patients. It may be concluded that ambulant managed care of patients could be optimized with the creation of medical networks.
Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Berlin. Christoph.heintze@charite.de
Christoph
C
Heintze
Dorothea
D
Matysiak-Klose
Antje
A
Howorka
Thorsten
T
Kröhn
Vittoria
V
Braun
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D003625:Data Collection; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D008511:Medicine; D008875:Middle Aged; D013038:Specialization