The association between primary care quality and health-care use, costs and outcomes for people with serious mental illness: a retrospective observational study

Abstract

BackgroundSerious mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychoses, is linked with high disease burden, poor outcomes, high treatment costs and lower life expectancy. In the UK, most people with serious mental illness are treated in primary care by general practitioners, who are financially incentivised to meet quality targets for patients with chronic conditions, including serious mental illness, under the Quality and Outcomes Framework. The Quality and Outcomes Framework, however, omits important aspects of quality.ObjectivesWe examined whether or not better quality of primary care for people with serious mental illness improved a range of outcomes.Design and s..