Primary options for acute care: general practitioners using their skills to manage "avoidable admission" patients in the community.

Aim: To enroll 600 primary care "avoidable admission" patients in a programme that utilised general practitioners to manage those patients in the community.

Methods: The Primary Options for Acute Care (POAC) programme ran from 26 February to 31 December 2001. Using networks already established, primary care teams were invited to manage patients using any resources they required, up to a cost of approximately $266 per patient.