Variations in activity and practice patterns: a French study for GPs.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the different practice profiles of general practitioners (GPs) in order to test the hypothesis of heterogeneity in physician behaviour.


METHODS
For the year 2000, 4,660 GPs from two regions in France.


METHODS
volume and structure of the physicians' medical activity, income level, personal characteristics, socioeconomic and geographical environment, characteristics of their patients.


METHODS
A cluster analysis to identify different practice profiles and a regression analysis to display the determinants of the physicians' activity.


RESULTS
Four different homogeneous groups can be identified, each one associating a physician's level of activity to his socioeconomic status. The level and the intensity of medical activity depend on individual factors, patients' characteristics as well as the socioeconomic context.


CONCLUSIONS
There is no uniformity in the way GPs practice medicine. An immediate consequence is that any cost-containment measure that is applied uniformly to all GPs inevitably results in different outcomes according to the physicians' category type.
Béjean
Sophie
S
Laboratoire d'Economie et Gestion, LEG UMR 5118 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, Bourgogne, France. Sophie.Bejean@u-bourgogne.fr
Peyron
Christine
C
Urbinelli
Renaud
R
D016000:Cluster Analysis; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036262:Empirical Research; D005194:Family Practice / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007357:Insurance, Physician Services; D017059:Models, Econometric; D009313:National Health Programs; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011331:Private Practice / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors