In the present age we are seeing the rapid reorganization of health care in response
to economic forces. The division of services into three levels—primary, secondary,
and tertiary—has proved to be highly effective, validating the work done on
vocational training for family medicine in the preceding decades. At its 1978 conference
in Alma-Ata, the World Health Organization recognized the fundamental
importance of primary care (World Health Organization, 1978).
The well-trained family doctor has become a key figure, and often a leader,
in the organization of health care. At the same time, integration of services has
become essential to conserve resources and eliminate waste. Horizontally, integration
is achieved by family doctors working as team members with other health
professionals and in collaboration with community support services. Vertical
integration is achieved by collaboration between the three levels of care, as in
hospital discharge planning.
The reorganization of health care is being carried out by managed care in its
various forms. A managed care organization is one that takes on the financial
budget and is responsible for coordinating a full spectrum of clinical services.
Health service or maintenance organizations (HMOs) and groups organized by
physicians are examples of managed care in the United States. In countries with
national health services, such as Canada and Britain, responsibility for financing
and providing services rests with government. Within an organization some of
the risk may be transferred to smaller groups of physicians caring for defi ned
populations.6
In the United States, the role of the family physician in HMOs is sometimes
described as that of gatekeeper. The name has taken on the negative connotation
of a person who tries to keep people out. There are, however, many positive
aspects of the role. The gatekeeper can also be described as the person who makes
others welcome, meets many of their needs, and guides them through the system.
The division of function between primary and secondary care physicians enables
both groups to do what they do best. Primary-care physicians help specialists
to maintain their skills by concentrating their experience on the patients whose
problems come within their field of expertise.
Although managed care provides primary-care physicians with great opportunities,
the rapid pace of change and the loss of independence can be very unsettling.
As physicians become more involved in financial management, they may
find themselves in conflicts of interest between the needs of their patients and the
requirements of the organization.
Because clinical education must follow the patient, this shift toward care in the
community must lead eventually to a change in the clinical curriculum. Logically,
medical students should be based in primary-care institutions, where they can
experience the long-term care of patients near where they and their families live
and work. Some of their specialty experience can be obtained in the same setting,
where family physicians, specialists, and other health professionals are increasingly
collaborating. For other aspects of their education in the specialties, students
can be seconded to the acute care hospital.
In the present age we are seeing the rapid reorganization of health care in response
to economic forces. The division of services into three levels—primary, secondary,
and tertiary—has proved to be highly effective, validating the work done on
vocational training for family medicine in the preceding decades. At its 1978 conference
in Alma-Ata, the World Health Organization recognized the fundamental
importance of primary care (World Health Organization, 1978).
The well-trained family doctor has become a key figure, and often a leader,
in the organization of health care. At the same time, integration of services has
become essential to conserve resources and eliminate waste. Horizontally, integration
is achieved by family doctors working as team members with other health
professionals and in collaboration with community support services. Vertical
integration is achieved by collaboration between the three levels of care, as in
hospital discharge planning.
The reorganization of health care is being carried out by managed care in its
various forms. A managed care organization is one that takes on the financial
budget and is responsible for coordinating a full spectrum of clinical services.
Health service or maintenance organizations (HMOs) and groups organized by
physicians are examples of managed care in the United States. In countries with
national health services, such as Canada and Britain, responsibility for financing
and providing services rests with government. Within an organization some of
the risk may be transferred to smaller groups of physicians caring for defi ned
populations.6
In the United States, the role of the family physician in HMOs is sometimes
described as that of gatekeeper. The name has taken on the negative connotation
of a person who tries to keep people out. There are, however, many positive
aspects of the role. The gatekeeper can also be described as the person who makes
others welcome, meets many of their needs, and guides them through the system.
The division of function between primary and secondary care physicians enables
both groups to do what they do best. Primary-care physicians help specialists
to maintain their skills by concentrating their experience on the patients whose
problems come within their field of expertise.
Although managed care provides primary-care physicians with great opportunities,
the rapid pace of change and the loss of independence can be very unsettling.
As physicians become more involved in financial management, they may
find themselves in conflicts of interest between the needs of their patients and the
requirements of the organization.
Because clinical education must follow the patient, this shift toward care in the
community must lead eventually to a change in the clinical curriculum. Logically,
medical students should be based in primary-care institutions, where they can
experience the long-term care of patients near where they and their families live
and work. Some of their specialty experience can be obtained in the same setting,
where family physicians, specialists, and other health professionals are increasingly
collaborating. For other aspects of their education in the specialties, students
can be seconded to the acute care hospital.
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