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Workshop: Quality and equity in primary care in European countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Boerma, W. Workshop: Quality and equity in primary care in European countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. European Journal of Public Health: 2013, 23(Suppl. 1), p. 69. Abstract. 6th European Public Health Conference: Health in Europe: are we there yet? Learning from the past, building the future. 13-16 November 2013, Brussel.
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A major challenge in health services research is to show what configurations of primary health care are associated with better outcomes, in terms of quality and equity. Today, such evidence is still incomplete. Through the QUALICOPC (Quality and Costs in Primary Care in Europe) study new knowledge in this area has been acquired. Between 2011 and 2013 data was collected by means of surveys among around 7000 General Practitioners (GPs) and 70 000 patients in 32 European countries, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. An important asset of this study is that the data of the patients can be linked to the data of the GP they visited. For the survey 4 types of questionnaires were used: a GP questionnaire, a questionnaire about Patients’ Experiences, a Patients’ Values questionnaire (about what they find important) and one about the GP practice characteristics. The presentations held during this workshop will focus on new insights gained through this study related to quality (measured through patients’ experiences and values and avoidable hospitalisation) and equity (in terms of access, treatment and outcomes). The presentation focuses on variation between countries on these aspects and touches upon potential predictors for these variances such as patients’ propensity to seek care and GPs’ behaviour. Key messages: This workshop provides insight in the variation related quality and equity of primary care in 35 countries. Important predictors for variation, such as patients’ propensity to seek care for avoidable hospitalization, will be discussed.