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. 2012 May;7(4):26-34.

How many patients should a family physician have? Factors to consider in answering a deceptively simple question

Laura Muldoon  1 , Simone Dahrouge, Grant Russell, William Hogg, Natalie Ward
Affiliations

How many patients should a family physician have? Factors to consider in answering a deceptively simple question

Laura Muldoon et al. Healthc Policy. 2012 May.

Abstract
in English, French

The ratio of patients to physicians has long been used as a tool for measuring and planning healthcare resources in Canada. Some current changes in primary care, such as enrolment of patients with physicians, make this ratio easier to calculate, while others, such as changing practice structure, make it more complex to interpret. Based on information gleaned from a review of the literature, we argue that before panel size can be used as an accountability measure for individual physicians or practices in primary care, we must understand its relationship to quality and outcomes at individual and population levels, as well as the contextual factors that affect it.

Le ratio patients–médecins a longtemps été utilisé comme outil pour les mesures et la planification des ressources humaines de la santé au Canada. Certains changements actuels dans les soins primaires, tels que l'inscription des patients auprès des médecins, facilitent le calcul de ce ratio, tandis que d'autres, tels que les changements dans la structure de la pratique, les rendent plus complexes à interpréter. Selon l'information recueillie par une revue de la littérature, nous stipulons qu'avant d'utiliser le nombre de patients comme mesure de comptabilisation pour les médecins ou les établissements de soins primaires, il faut comprendre la relation entre cette mesure et la qualité ou les résultats aux niveaux individuel et populationnel, de même que les facteurs contextuels qui l'affectent.

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Figures

Box 1.
Box 1.
Calculation of panel size in primary care
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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