Do General Practitioners in a Visiting Medical Officer Arrangement Improve the Perceived Quality of Care of Rural and Remote Patients? A Qualitative Study in Australia
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
3. Results
3.1. Demographic Characteristics of Research Participants
3.2. Perceived Roles of GP-VMOs in Improving the Perceived Quality of Care
3.2.1. Improving Continuity of Caring Relationships
“The fact that he knows my medical history, he knows me, he knows my temperament… He knows my medications; he follows what the specialists say. He has full knowledge of my background …”[Patient-05]
“Because most of my people, they follow me in the hospital… I know the continuity of care… They should try to keep the GP-VMOs working in the same location, the continuity of care is very good…”[GP-01]
“Twice I took the patient from the hospital and brought them back... The patient had no transport and I said I can drop you to [large regional town] and bring your family and then you can follow up with the cardiologist”[GP-01]
“That is apart from varicose veins and you know things you get with age like osteopenia and that type of thing… and I have very high blood pressure… he keeps an eye on me…”[Patient-05]
3.2.2. Cultivating Trust from Local Communities in Health Systems
“…you feel a certain warmth towards your own GP if you’ve been lucky enough to have one ongoing…Now that appeals to us greatly…, because you’re having continuity… one whole doctor for a lengthy period of time which is fantastic”[Patient-08]
“…when I first came here there was a doctor who had been here for years. The whole community felt a sense of confidence when you’re going to see Dr [Name]. He knew who you were and that’s important, just the fact that he’s familiar with you, that really makes you feel good, especially when you’re ill.”[Patient-07]
“We have got a good rapport with the doctor… we can communicate really well … He communicates to me and tells me what’s wrong or what he thinks I should do, and I can understand”[Patient-01]
“… I guess it’s always good if you can see your own GP but if you’re sick enough you don’t really care who you see”[Patient-03]
“It would be great because he [GP-VMO] knows your history… When you get the locum you have never dealt before, you have got to explain everything again and again…”[Patient-04]
3.2.3. Promoting Integrated Health Services and Patient Satisfaction in Rural and Remote Areas
“… he’d obviously done something to his right shoulder… he was actually from [rural town], so I basically rang [rural town] and said “Look, this guy is from [rural town], his mother actually works in the hospital, he needs an X-ray”. It was about five o’clock. I said “Look, I’ll give him some pain relief, can you X-ray him?”[GP-03]
“… most people in these towns don’t want to have to fly out, most of them want to stay close to home, to their family and the area that they know… they’d much rather have their babies in the local area, they’d much rather be operated on in the local area if possible…”[GP-02]
“… they [GP-VMOs] know they saw you… so when you do your follow-up they have known that you’ve done that…, and so when you go for a follow-up with the GP it is really a catch up since the ED visit … so the history taking is much shorter…”[Patient-09]
“… if you get a locum come in and they have got no idea what’s wrong with you, or what you have had or your medical history… you have got to sit and tell them, a quarter of an hour and then they are saying well I have got nine more patients waiting…”[Patient-01]
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
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Sutarsa, I.N.; Kasim, R.; Steward, B.; Bain-Donohue, S.; Slimings, C.; Hall Dykgraaf, S.; Barnard, A. Do General Practitioners in a Visiting Medical Officer Arrangement Improve the Perceived Quality of Care of Rural and Remote Patients? A Qualitative Study in Australia. Healthcare 2022, 10, 1045. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10061045
Sutarsa IN, Kasim R, Steward B, Bain-Donohue S, Slimings C, Hall Dykgraaf S, Barnard A. Do General Practitioners in a Visiting Medical Officer Arrangement Improve the Perceived Quality of Care of Rural and Remote Patients? A Qualitative Study in Australia. Healthcare. 2022; 10(6):1045. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10061045
Chicago/Turabian StyleSutarsa, I Nyoman, Rosny Kasim, Ben Steward, Suzanne Bain-Donohue, Claudia Slimings, Sally Hall Dykgraaf, and Amanda Barnard. 2022. "Do General Practitioners in a Visiting Medical Officer Arrangement Improve the Perceived Quality of Care of Rural and Remote Patients? A Qualitative Study in Australia" Healthcare 10, no. 6: 1045. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10061045