How Do German General Practitioners Assess Medical Specialist Care Needs of Nursing Home Residents? Results of a Postal Survey in North-Western Germany

Ove Spreckelsen, Guido Schmiemann, Alexander Maximilian Fassmer, Bettina Engel, Falk Hoffmann and Michael Hermann Freitag
Additional contact information
Ove Spreckelsen: Division of General Practice, Department of Health Services Research, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
Guido Schmiemann: Department of Health Services Research, Institute for Public Health and Nursing Science, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Alexander Maximilian Fassmer: Division of Outpatient Care and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Health Services Research, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
Bettina Engel: Division of General Practice, Department of Health Services Research, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
Falk Hoffmann: Division of Outpatient Care and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Health Services Research, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
Michael Hermann Freitag: Division of General Practice, Department of Health Services Research, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-10

Abstract: The frequency of contacts of nursing home residents with medical specialists is lower compared to the general population of the same age group in Germany. The aim of this study was to assess general practitioners’ (GPs) views on specialist care needs of nursing home residents, on questions of qualification and care coordination. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a postal questionnaire among a representative sample of 1121 GPs in north-western Germany in 2018. The perceptions of GPs about the relative importance of the type of specialist care that is required in nursing homes was assessed on a five-point Likert scale (0 = very low to 4 = very high). A total of 375 GPs (response 33.5%; mean age 54.4 years; 57.6% male) participated in the survey. GPs assessed care needs as highest for neurologists and psychiatrists (68.7%) and lowest for gynecologists (6.5%). Almost all respondents (96.2%) strongly agreed that medical care for nursing home residents should be coordinated by GPs and that GPs should initiate the referral for further specialist care when required (87.5%). A minority (25.7%) agreed that quality of medical care would improve when care for a nursing home was provided by only one GP practice. GPs perceive the needs of nursing home residents for specialist care as high only in relation to care by neurologists and psychiatrists. GPs consider their own coordination function for medical care in nursing homes as very important.

Keywords: nursing home residents; primary care; specialist care; health services research; survey; Germany; coordination of care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7126/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7126/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:19:p:7126-:d:421294

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().