Summary of characteristics of practices and healthcare professionals
| Intervention (n=28) | Control (n=32) | |
|---|---|---|
| Single-handed practices | 19 (67.9) | 22 (68.8) |
| Specialty | ||
| Family medicine | 21 (98.3) | 16 (50.0) |
| Internal medicine | 5 (17.9) | 8 (25.0) |
| Mixed | 2 (7.1) | 8 (25.0) |
| Location | ||
| Rural town | 1 (3.6) | 0 (0.0) |
| Small town | 14 (50.0) | 11 (34.4) |
| Mid-sized town | 7 (25.0) | 11 (34.4) |
| City | 6 (21.4) | 10 (31.2) |
| Academic teaching practice | 3 (10.7) | 7 (21.9) |
| System for quality management in place | ||
| No system | 2 (7.1) | 3 (9.4) |
| EPA | 5 (17.9) | 11 (34.4) |
| Non-EPA | 21 (80.8) | 18 (56.3) |
| Team size (number of healthcare professionals) | 5.43 (1.79) | 5.94 (3.13) |
| Number of professionals per practice | ||
| Physicians | 1.36 (0.56) | 1.66 (1.00) |
| Healthcare assistants | 4.07 (1.44) | 4.28 (2.37) |
| Number of FTE per practice (40 h work week) | ||
| Physicians | 1.60 (0.58) | 1.85 (0.90) |
| Health care assistants | 2.53 (1.20) | 2.98 (1.73) |
| Number of patients per FTE | ||
| Of physicians | 3142 (907) | 3269 (984) |
| Of healthcare assistants | 2159 (814) | 2220 (834) |
| Percentage of patients >59 years | 0.34 (0.13) | 0.37 (0.15) |
| Weekly working hours (h) | ||
| Physicians | 48.8 (13.08) | 47.9 (9.71) |
| Healthcare assistants | 24.6 (7.54) | 28.0 (5.61) |
| Age (years) | ||
| Physicians | 50.9 (7.46) | 48.9 (4.86) |
| Healthcare assistants | 39.1 (6.95) | 38.5 (7.22) |
| Professional experience (years) | ||
| Physicians | 21.9 (7.77) | 19.7 (5.83) |
| Healthcare assistants | 14.4 (6.05) | 16.5 (6.42) |
| Length of time in current practice (years) | ||
| Physicians | 14.0 (9.08) | 10.5 (6.85) |
| Healthcare assistants | 8.1 (5.79) | 9.3 (4.96) |
Means and SDs are presented for quantitative variables, and frequencies and percentages for qualitative variables.
EPA, European Practice Assessment; FTE, full-time equivalents.