DIFFERENCES IN WORK ACTIVITIES BETWEEN PRIVATE AND COMMUNITY-HEALTH CENTER GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate differences in the characteristics of general practitioners (GPs) and patients, referral rates, rates of prescribing and ordering of tests and x-rays, and types of counselling and consultation, between private and community health centre (CHC) GPs in Victoria. METHOD: All 51 full-time Victorian CHC GPs were invited to enrol in the Australian Morbidity and Treatment Survey (AMTS) developed by the Family Medicine Research Unit at the University of Sydney in 1992. The control group comprised the 114 Victorian GPs involved in this survey in 1991. RESULTS: Thirty-nine CHC GPs (76%) provided complete data. CHC GPs were more likely to be younger, female, and to have less e..