The association between the workload of general practitioners and patient experiences with care: results of a cross-sect
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(2020) 18:76
RESEARCH
Open Access
The association between the workload of general practitioners and patient experiences with care: results of a crosssectional study in 33 countries Willemijn L. A. Schäfer1*, Michael J. van den Berg2 and Peter P. Groenewegen3,4,5*
Abstract Background: The workload of general practitioners (GPs) and dissatisfaction with work have been increasing in various Western countries over the past decades. In this study, we evaluate the relation between the workload of GPs and patients’ experiences with care. Methods: We collected data through a cross-sectional survey among 7031 GPs and 67,873 patients in 33 countries. Dependent variables are the patient experiences on doctor-patient communication, accessibility, continuity, and comprehensiveness of care. Independent variables concern the workload measured as the GP-reported work hours per week, average consultation times, job satisfaction (an indicator of subjective workload), and the difference between the workload measures of every GP and the average in their own country. Finally, we evaluated interaction effects between workload measures and what patients find important in a country and the presence of a patient-list system. Relationships were determined through multilevel regression models. Results: Patients of GPs who are happier with their work were found to experience better communication, continuity, access, and comprehensiveness. When GPs are more satisfied compared to others in their country, patients also experience better quality. When GPs work more hours per week, patients also experience better quality of care, but not in the area of accessibility. A longer consultation time, also when compared to the national average, is only related to more comprehensive care. There are no differences in the relationships between countries with and without a patient list system and in countries where patients find the different quality aspects more important. Conclusions: Patients experience better care when their GP has more work hours, longer consultation times, and especially, a higher job satisfaction. Keywords: General practice, Workload, Job satisfaction, Patient experiences, International comparison
* Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] 1 Department of Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA 3 NIVEL, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indic
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