Health care in the Netherlands.

This article analyzes Dutch experiences of health care reform--in particular in primary care--with emphasis on lessons for current United States health care reforms. Recent major innovations were the introduction of private insurance based on the principles of primary care-led health care and including all citizens irrespective of their financial, employment, or health status; introduction of primary care collaboratives for out-of-hour services and chronic disease management; and primary care team building, including practice nurses. These innovations were introduced on top of a strong primary care tradition of family practices with defined populations based on patient panels, practice-based research, evidence-based medicine, large-scale computerization, and strong primary care health informatics.

Staphylococcus aureus carriage among GPs in The Netherlands.

Background: The extent to which GPs serve as a reservoir for antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is unknown and not well studied.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of nasal S. aureus carriage among GPs in the Netherlands, as well as the antimicrobial resistance and the genotypes of isolated S.

Familiarity between patient and general practitioner does not influence the content of the consultation.

Background: Personal continuity in general practice is considered to be a prerequisite of high quality patient care based on shared knowledge and mutual understanding. Not much is known about how personal continuity is reflected in the content of GP - patient communication. We explored whether personal continuity of care influences the content of communication during the consultation.

Implementation of the Dutch low back pain guideline for general practitioners: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Study Design: Cluster randomized controlled trial for a multifaceted implementation strategy.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of tailored interventions (multifaceted implementation strategy) to implement the Dutch low back pain guideline for general practitioners with regard to adherence to guideline recommendations.

Summary Of Background Data: Guidelines for the management of low back pain in primary care have been developed in various countries, but little is known about the optimal implementation strategy.