Regional residents who consistently see one GP for their health care are less likely to need treatment in hospital emergency departments and more likely to undergo preventative screening tests than those who visit multiple practices or see different doctors, according to new research.
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The University of Melbourne Department of Rural Health, which has a campus in Ballarat, surveyed almost 2700 regional Victorian residents and found while most attend a single general practice to address their health concerns, one in six had visited more than one medical clinic in the previous 12 months.
Participants in the study who had been to a GP in the previous year had been on average six to nine times.
Initiatives that enhance continuity of GP care in rural areas may assist to reduce inequities in health outcomes for older people and people living with chronic ill health.
- Kristen Glenister
The study, published in the BMC Family Practice journal, found patients who used one general practice clinic were more likely to have had their blood pressure, skin, and cholesterol checked than patients who visited multiple clinics. And those who attended more than one medical clinic were likely to be younger and to live in a regional centre rather than an outlying town.
Lead author Kristen Glenister said visiting multiple general practices could reduce continuity of care.
The most common reasons for attending multiple general practices included availability of appointments, accessing a different GP for 'simple issues' but keeping a preferred doctor or clinic for more serious ailments, convenience and cost. Women were more likely to mention specific services, such as same-sex medical staff, and cost, as reasons for consulting multiple clinics and the location of GP services was an issue for those in smaller towns.
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"Further studies are required to test whether increasing availability of appointments and reducing out-of-pocket expenses would increase single practice attendance and/or decrease healthcare costs overall," Ms Glenister wrote.
Medical clinics in some regional and rural areas often face complicating factors including a shortage of doctors and higher proportions of older people and those with chronic disease.
