Improvement Strategies for the Challenging Collaboration of General Practitioners and Specialists for Patients with Complex Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review
Introduction: Coordination of healthcare professionals seems to be particularly important for patients with complex chronic disease, as they present a challenging interplay of conditions and symptoms. As one solution, to counteract or prevent this, improving collaboration between general practitione...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2022-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Integrated Care |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ijic.org/articles/5970 |
| _version_ | 1798002306381250560 |
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| author | Rebecca Tomaschek Patricia Lampart Anke Scheel-Sailer Armin Gemperli Christoph Merlo Stefan Essig |
| author_facet | Rebecca Tomaschek Patricia Lampart Anke Scheel-Sailer Armin Gemperli Christoph Merlo Stefan Essig |
| author_sort | Rebecca Tomaschek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Coordination of healthcare professionals seems to be particularly important for patients with complex chronic disease, as they present a challenging interplay of conditions and symptoms. As one solution, to counteract or prevent this, improving collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists has been the aim of studies by linking or coordinating their services along the continuum of care. This scoping review summarises role distributions and components of this collaboration that have potential for improvement for the care of patients with complex chronic conditions. Methods: Scoping review as a knowledge synthesis for components of collaboration and role distributions between medical specialists and GPs in intervention studies. The PubMed database was searched for literature from 2010–2020. Results: Literature search and reference screening generated 2,174 articles. 30 articles originating from 22 unique projects were included in our synthesis. In the interventions to improve collaboration, the GP is most commonly in charge of patient management and extends the scope of practice. The specialist provides support when needed. Clear definition of roles, resources for knowledge transfer and education from specialists are commonly utilised interventions. Typically, combinations of process and system changes addressing communication and coordination issues are applied. Most interventions improve provider and patient satisfaction, health outcomes, and reduce care fragmentation. Conclusion: This review showed that interventions to improve collaboration between GPs and medical specialists seem promising. Further efforts should be made to test and apply the findings systematically in broad clinical practice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:49:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8cc903d895cd41909360559838798e38 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1568-4156 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:49:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Integrated Care |
| spelling | doaj.art-8cc903d895cd41909360559838798e382022-12-22T04:25:25ZengUbiquity PressInternational Journal of Integrated Care1568-41562022-08-0122310.5334/ijic.59705997Improvement Strategies for the Challenging Collaboration of General Practitioners and Specialists for Patients with Complex Chronic Conditions: A Scoping ReviewRebecca Tomaschek0Patricia Lampart1Anke Scheel-Sailer2Armin Gemperli3Christoph Merlo4Stefan Essig5Center for Primary and Community Care, Department of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Lucerne, Frohburgstrasse 3, 6002 LucerneSwiss Paraplegic Centre, Guido A. Zäch Str. 1, 6207 NottwilSwiss Paraplegic Centre, Guido A. Zäch Str. 1, 6207 NottwilCenter for Primary and Community Care, Department of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Lucerne, Frohburgstrasse 3, 6002 Lucerne; Swiss Paraplegic Research, Guido A. Zäch Str. 4, 6207 NottwilCenter for Primary and Community Care, Department of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Lucerne, Frohburgstrasse 3, 6002 LucerneCenter for Primary and Community Care, Department of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Lucerne, Frohburgstrasse 3, 6002 LucerneIntroduction: Coordination of healthcare professionals seems to be particularly important for patients with complex chronic disease, as they present a challenging interplay of conditions and symptoms. As one solution, to counteract or prevent this, improving collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists has been the aim of studies by linking or coordinating their services along the continuum of care. This scoping review summarises role distributions and components of this collaboration that have potential for improvement for the care of patients with complex chronic conditions. Methods: Scoping review as a knowledge synthesis for components of collaboration and role distributions between medical specialists and GPs in intervention studies. The PubMed database was searched for literature from 2010–2020. Results: Literature search and reference screening generated 2,174 articles. 30 articles originating from 22 unique projects were included in our synthesis. In the interventions to improve collaboration, the GP is most commonly in charge of patient management and extends the scope of practice. The specialist provides support when needed. Clear definition of roles, resources for knowledge transfer and education from specialists are commonly utilised interventions. Typically, combinations of process and system changes addressing communication and coordination issues are applied. Most interventions improve provider and patient satisfaction, health outcomes, and reduce care fragmentation. Conclusion: This review showed that interventions to improve collaboration between GPs and medical specialists seem promising. Further efforts should be made to test and apply the findings systematically in broad clinical practice.https://www.ijic.org/articles/5970complex chronic diseasedelivery of health careintegratedprimary health carespecialised careinterorganisational collaboration |
| spellingShingle | Rebecca Tomaschek Patricia Lampart Anke Scheel-Sailer Armin Gemperli Christoph Merlo Stefan Essig Improvement Strategies for the Challenging Collaboration of General Practitioners and Specialists for Patients with Complex Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review International Journal of Integrated Care complex chronic disease delivery of health care integrated primary health care specialised care interorganisational collaboration |
| title | Improvement Strategies for the Challenging Collaboration of General Practitioners and Specialists for Patients with Complex Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review |
| title_full | Improvement Strategies for the Challenging Collaboration of General Practitioners and Specialists for Patients with Complex Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review |
| title_fullStr | Improvement Strategies for the Challenging Collaboration of General Practitioners and Specialists for Patients with Complex Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improvement Strategies for the Challenging Collaboration of General Practitioners and Specialists for Patients with Complex Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review |
| title_short | Improvement Strategies for the Challenging Collaboration of General Practitioners and Specialists for Patients with Complex Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review |
| title_sort | improvement strategies for the challenging collaboration of general practitioners and specialists for patients with complex chronic conditions a scoping review |
| topic | complex chronic disease delivery of health care integrated primary health care specialised care interorganisational collaboration |
| url | https://www.ijic.org/articles/5970 |
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