Primary care reforms in Austria : Is there potential in the region of Tyrol?

Abstract

Within the Austrian health care reform, anew policy is generally proposed to strengthen primary care (PC). The aim of this study was to illustrate the status quo in the Tyrolean PC system and to provide the opportunity to examine the reform feasibility. Therefore, aprospective cross-sectional study was performed among licensed GPs in Tyrol, using an online questionnaire. The results of the survey among 87GPs show that only 20% of Tyrolean PC settings already fulfill the coreteam availabilty described in the reformplans. However, there are differences between urban and rural areas. The highest dissatisfaction was detected in the fields of administration, financing and appreciation of PC. Primarily there is arequest by the GPs for implementation of group practices. Only few concerns about the proposed PC centers were noticed. It seems necessary to improve availability, especially outside the core times and during the night.