Patients' and providers' satisfaction with shared medical appointments.

Background: Shared medical appointments (SMAs) are comprehensive medical visits conducted with groups of patients. We have previously discussed the potential and assessed likely support for SMAs in Australia. In this paper, we report on patient and provider satisfaction, and some subjective outcomes.

Shared medical appointments - an adjunct for chronic disease management in Australia?

Background: The incidence of chronic disease continues largely unabated in modern western societies. While the content (physiology, determinants) of these diseases is well studied, processes of dealing with them at the clinical level have been less well considered. Shared medical appointments (SMAs) or group consultations (also often referred to as group visits) are 'a series of individual office visits sequentially attending to each patient's unique medical needs individually, but in a supportive group setting where all can listen, interact and learn'.