[General practice has to contribute to the continuous improvement of quality of care and integrate health promotion].
Quality of care in general practice is mainly based on effectiveness of clinical and inter-personal care, and access to care. Assessment has to focus on structures and processes, more than on outcomes. The sets of clinical indicators used in some european countries, though good starting points are still incomplete to encompass the complexity of activity. Assessment of care quality by the public authorities must be acceptable to the doctors who are the object of this assessment; otherwise its conclusions will be rejected. Continuous quality improvement can maintain quality of care at a high level and maintain costs under control. Health has to be managed, and doctors have a collective responsibility towards their patients. The procedures of the quality cycle are applicable in general practice for the development of community-based projects of health promotion, within the network of care. The discipline can find in it a new lease of life and perhaps curb the loss of interest among young doctors.
Vanmeerbeek
Marc
M
Département universitaire de médecine générale, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium. marc.vanmeerbeek@ulg.ac.be
D002983:Clinical Competence; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D006293:Health Promotion; D008332:Management Quality Circles; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000379:methods