The Department of Health has released a new report on general medical practice in Australia, revealing the three most frequent reasons why patients go to a doctor.
According to the report, which is a working paper prepared for the Department by NPS MedicineWise, the main reasons people went to the doctor were to obtain a prescription, review their conditions, and for upper respiratory tract infections.
Chief Medical Officer in the Department, Professor Brendan Murphy said the paper General Practice Insights Report 2016-17 also identified the top five chronic conditions patients presented to general practitioners (GPs), which were high blood pressure, depression, high cholesterol, anxiety and asthma.
“The report shows that GPs most frequently prescribed penicillin, antidepressants, opioids and drugs for peptic ulcers and reflux,” Professor Murphy said.
“It also shows that 42 per cent of patients had at least one pathology test result recorded.”
He said the findings were derived from completely de-identified information from 2.1 million patients who attended 475 general practices across Australia.
The Chief Executive of NPS MedicineWise, Steve Morris said the General Practice Insights Report was a working paper, and was being used as a source of data in a way that had never been done before on a national scale.
“Ideally this report will provoke discussion among the general practice community so more insights can be gained and we can continue to work together with clinicians and consumers to improve health outcomes for all Australians,” Mr Morris said.
Professor Nigel Stocks of the University of Adelaide welcomed the paper saying it was the type of report that would be critical in improving patient outcomes.
“This insightful report will help GPs to understand the health of their practice population and to provide the best possible care to patients,” Professor Stocks said.
The 84-page General Practice Insights Report 2016-17 paper can be accessed at the NPS MedicineWise website at this PS News link.
