Avtor/Urednik		Kringos, Dionne S; Boerma, Wienke G; Rotar-Pavlič, D; Švab, Igor
Naslov		The European primary care monitor: structure, process and outcome indicators
Tip		članek
Vir		BMC Fam Pract
Vol. in št.		Letnik 11
Leto izdaje		2010
Obseg		str. 81
Jezik		eng
Abstrakt		Background: Scientific research has provided evidence on benefits of well developed primary care systems. The relevance of some of this research for the European situation is limited.There is currently a lack of up to date comprehensive and comparable information on variation in development of primary care, and a lack of knowledge of structures and strategies conducive to strengthening primary care in Europe. The EC funded project Primary Health Care Activity Monitor for Europe (PHAMEU) aims to fill this gap by developing a Primary Care Monitoring System (PC Monitor) for application in 31 European countries. This article describes the development of the indicators of the PC Monitor, which will make it possible to create an alternative model for holistic analyses of primary care. Methods: A systematic review of the primary care literature published between 2003 and July 2008 was carried out. This resulted in an overview of: (1) the dimensions of primary care and their relevance to outcomes at (primary) health system level; (2) essential features per dimension; (3) applied indicators to measure the features of primary care dimensions. The indicators were evaluated by the project team against criteria of relevance, precision, flexibility, and discriminating power. The resulting indicator set was evaluated on its suitability for Europe-wide comparison of primary care systems by a panel of primary care experts from various European countries (representing a variety of primary care systems). Results: The developed PC Monitor approaches primary care in Europe as a multidimensional concept. It describes the key dimensions of primary care systems at three levels: structure, process, and outcome level. On structure level, it includes indicators for governance, economic conditions, and workforce development. On process level, indicators describe access, comprehensiveness, continuity, and coordination of primary care services. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters)
Deskriptorji		EUROPE OUTCOME AND PROCESS ASSESSMENT (HEALTH CARE) PRIMARY HEALTH CARE