The aim of our research is to explore how organization and organizational characteristics influence health professionals and the subsequent variation in quality of care and patient outcomes. A central characteristic of our research group is addressing these challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration between general practitioners, health economists and other relevant professionals.
Ongoing Projects:
WELLCARE-project:
Investigates the importance of general practitioners' well-being in relation to their response to various external interventions, such as changes in the fee system and the introduction of new clinical guidelines.
Accreditation of general practice in Denmark:
General practice was accredited from 2016-2018. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the effect accreditation had on; among other things, treatment quality, patient-perceived quality, and the general practitioners' job satisfaction and motivation.
Quality clusters in general practice:
With the collective agreement for general practice in 2018, a program for quality improvement in general practice was introduced. The program was based on professional communities (called clusters) between general practitioners. The project examines the GPs' experiences in relation to clusters, as well as their attitudes, barriers, and facilitators for participation in the clusters. We also investigate whether the choice of subjects in the clusters has influenced treatment behavior in general practice.
Remuneration systems and incentives for general practitioners (GPs):
In the most recent collective agreements, there have been several changes to the billing system. Among other things, a differentiated capitation fee and a change from fee-for-service to capitation among chronically ill patients have been introduced. The research group is engaged in projects that examine the effect of these changes in the billing system on doctors' motivation and treatment behaviour.
Empathy and medical engagement in general practice:
The purpose of the project is divided into two phases:
Phase I: To measure and assess the degree of empathy and the variation in empathy among general practitioners and to analyze whether there are connections between the goal of doctors' empathy and information about the doctor, practice, job satisfaction, etc.
Phase II: To analyze connections between the doctor's empathy and behavioral and treatment effects in relation to the patients. Including behavioral conditions regarding consumption patterns of selected health services (e.g. prescription of antibiotics, painkillers, laboratory tests, and blood tests), referral behavior, and proxy measures for the patients' health "outcome" and possible cost targets.
Tasks delegation from general practitioners to staff members:
This project investigates the relationship between delegation of tasks from general practitioners to their staff, influences and their job satisfaction and motivation, as well as the treatment quality and patient satisfaction.
Medical Cannabis:
On 1 January 2018, a trial scheme was introduced in Denmark, which made it possible for general practitioners to prescribe medical cannabis for special patient groups. The scheme runs over four years, and the research project aims to investigate doctors' and patients' knowledge of, attitudes towards, and experiences with respectively prescribing and using medical cannabis; as well as mapping their prescribing and use behaviour.
Defensive medicine:
This project investigates the occurrence and type of defensive actions in general practice. A qualitative study has provided a Danish definition of defensive medicine, which has since formed the basis for an audit registration of practitioners' self-assessed defensive actions. In addition to the type of defensive action, the physician records his rationale for performing the action.
Contact: Line Bjørnskov Pedersen