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Background: Job satisfaction in health care is currently important in view of workforce shortage in the health care area. The purpose of this study was to evaluate job satisfaction in young health professionals and to identify factors possibly influencing overall job satisfaction., Methods: About one year after graduating from vocational training, a total of 579 graduates from various health care professions [Nursing (N), Nursing and Geriatric Nursing; Therapy (TP), Physical therapy and Logopaedics; Diagnostics (D), Diagnostic Radiography and Biomedical Science], were invited to participate in an online-survey. Job satisfaction was assessed with the 10-item Warr-Cook-Wall (WCW) job satisfaction questionnaire. Descriptive analysis of the WCW was performed, and the impact of various factors on job satisfaction was determined by stepwise linear regression analysis., Results: In total, 189 graduates (N, n=121; TP, n=32; D, n=36) were included in data analysis (32.6% response rate). Overall job satisfaction in all young professionals was 4.9±1.6 (mean±SD) and was slightly higher in TP (5.4±1.4) compared with N (4.7±1.6) and D (5.0±1.5), respectively. Highest satisfaction was identified with "colleagues" and lowest satisfaction with "income" was identified in all professional groups. Colleagues and fellow workers showed the highest score of association regarding overall job satisfaction in regression analysis., Conclusions: As a whole, our data suggest good to very good satisfaction in various WCW items of job satisfaction. "Colleagues" were shown to have a high impact on job satisfaction. To improve the attractiveness of job profiles in health care, the presented results may provide a valuable input regarding workforce shortage., Competing Interests: Die Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenskonflikt besteht., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Objective: General practice offers basic medical care to patients. Therefore, general practitioners (GPs) perform a variety of medical procedures. In order to estimate GPs array of services from the perspective of health services research, it is indispensable to know the procedures that are carried out by GPs and identify relevant influencing factors., Methods: Based on the results of a selective literature search, the Medical Association's regulations on specialty training and experiences gained so far in developing the competence-based curriculum for general practice, a questionnaire covering 89 procedures was developed and sent to 1 576 general practitioners all over Germany., Results: The response rate was 42%; 42 of 89 procedures were carried out by at least 50% of the participants. These procedures include the anatomical areas skin, eyes, ears, nose, gastrointestinal tract, urological tract and musculoskeletal system. Significant differences were shown in 25 of the most frequent procedures regarding practices in urban and rural areas, in 9 procedures with regard to the participant's length of occupation in general practice and in 19 procedures regarding male and female participants., Conclusion: This is the first survey that shows which procedures are performed by German GPs and how often they are performed. Factors such as practice location in either rural or urban area, physician's gender and years practiced as GP have been identified as important influences on the spectrum of services provided., Competing Interests: Interessenkonflikt:: Die Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht. JS, JSz, ThL, SJ sind Fachärzte für Allgemeinmedizin., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore views, experiences und perspectives of German GPs related to current out-of-hours service provision covering both urban and rural settings., Methods: In the context of the international project EurOOHnet (European Research Network for Out-of-Hours Primary Health Care) the German members (of EurOOHnet) developed a questionnaire about organisational structures, infrastructure requirements and the procedures of information flow between regular care and out-of-hours care in 2011. This questionnaire was adopted in every participating country. A comprehensive postal questionnaire was sent to 410 feneral practice cooperatives in Germany. Qualitative content analysis and an inductive reasoning process, supported by the use of Atlas.ti, were used to identify key themes from responses to open-ended questions in the survey. Results were grouped into 3 overarching categories and each of these were grouped into 3 sub-categories., Results: The questionnaire response rate was 44% (181/410). The analysis identified organisational issues (e. g., financing) and infrastructure barriers (e. g., lack of motivated GPs for out-of-hours care) as key themes. Significantly, different priorities between rural and urban GPs were identified. In particular, rural GPs highlighted shortages of GPs and distance between the GP practice and patients' residence as concerning factors impacting on out-of-hours care., Conclusions: Based on reported views from survey respondents, urban and rural primary care service needs vary significantly and, therefore, different solutions are needed to improve out-of-hours primary care and optimise service quality., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Considering the demographic development models for primary care have to be focused on chronic illness care especially. The so called "Hausarztzentrierte Versorgung" (HzV) in Baden-Wuerttemberg constitutes such a model of an implementation of family doctor-centred health care. For evaluation purposes the perspective of patients is of particular interest. Therefore the aim of this study was to analyse how chronically ill patients assess their medical care. Altogether 53 primary care practices in Baden-Wuerttemberg took part in a patient survey. The quality of chronic illness care from the patients' perspective was assessed by means of the PACIC short form. Furthermore the general satisfaction with care as well as sociodemographic characteristics were determined. For analysis two different groups were regarded: HzV-doctor and HzV-patient with a chronic condition (group 1) and non-HzV-doctor and non-HzV-patient with a chronic condition (group 2). Altogether 2,535 patients were recruited for the survey (response rate 47.8%). Out of these, 836 patients could be assigned to group 1 and 319 patients could be assigned to group 2. Patients in both groups were very satisfied with their care. The patients in group 1 stated more frequently that they received a written treatment plan from their general practitioner and that they were asked about their state of health when leaving the practice. Overall satisfaction was positively associated with organisation of care (β= 0.484), support in difficult situations (β= 0.171) and information on the usefulness of consulting other doctors (β= 0.163) with an explained variation of R(2)=0.459. Irrespective of their group affiliation patients rate the medical care of their chronic condition very positively. Especially the assessment of the quality of care from the perspective of different patient groups (HzV participants and non-HzV participants) could contribute essentially as a feedback for physicians concerning the implementation of the main contents of the HzV for participating physicians., (Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

The agreement on family-doctor centred care (Hausarztzentrierte Versorgung, "HzV") pursuant to Sect. 73b, Volume V of the German Social Security Code became effective in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, on July 1(st), 2008. This complex intervention, which is voluntary for both family doctors and patients, aims to strengthen the coordinative function of family practices. As a result, this intervention is believed to increase the quality of medical health care for persons insured - in the medium to long-term - and thereby, ideally, to additionally save expenses. Working package 1 was one out of a total of four working packages and focused on the evaluation of potential intervention effects of the HzV intervention based on the analyses of AOK routine data in Baden-Wuerttemberg. A total of 1.44 million insured persons were eligible for the present analyses. Insured adults voluntarily participating in the family doctor-centred health care intervention (HzV insured persons: n=580,924 in the intervention group) of the AOK were compared to those not participating in this intervention (non-HzV insured persons: n=862,237 in the control group). For both HzV and non-HzV insured persons, a comparison of each outcome of interest (encounters with family doctors, encounters with specialists, rate of hospitalisations, duration of hospitalisations, rate of re-hospitalisations, costs of pharmacotherapy, rate of polypharmacy, rate of Me-Too pharmaceuticals) was conducted for quarters 3 and 4 of 2008 as well as for quarters 3 and 4 in 2010. Both groups of insured persons differed in that they either participated in the HzV intervention between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2011 or not. Before January 1, 2009 individuals in both groups did not participate in the HzV intervention. This design allowed for both longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons. Moreover, the design implicitly controlled for potential seasonal bias. In order to adjust for relevant covariates (insured persons' age, gender, nationality, insurance state, morbidity), multivariate multilevel regression models were developed and applied. On average, HzV insured persons were about 3 years older (56.2 ± 27.3 vs. 53.1 ± 18.4 years) and had higher levels of comorbidity (Charlson Comorbidity Index: 1.45 ± 1.86 vs. 1.19 ± 1.71). No significant differences in terms of rate and duration of hospitalisations were observed. The same applied to the number of rehospitalisations within 30 days. After adjustment for covariates, however, an increase in visits to the respective family doctor of 38% was found in the intervention group. Moreover, a decrease of encounters to specialists with and without referrals from family doctors could be observed (-29.8 % and -12.5%, respectively). Interestingly, even costs of pharmacotherapy, polypharmacy and prescriptions of Me-Too drugs were statistically significantly lower or less frequent, respectively, in the group of HzV insured persons. In conclusion, besides the observed associations in terms of pharmacotherapy, the HzV intervention appears to have advantageous effects in terms of family doctor centred health care., (Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

We have used the technique of the autoplastic periostal bridle graft for operative treatment of chronic lateral instabilities of the ankle joint in 78 cases since 1978. Clinical and radiological follow-ups of 55 patients were made at two different intervals of time. In more than 90% of these there was no more evidence of instability and good or very good subjective results were obtained. The substitute ligament can be either fastened via drill holes or fixed to the bone with a screw. The autoplastic periostal bridle graft is a simple, anatomically appropriate and reliable procedure to restore the stability of the lateral ankle joint. Several renowned authors have also reported good results in the meantime.