Complaints and Diagnoses of Emergency Department Patients in the Netherlands: A Comparative Study of Integrated Primary and Emergency Care.

Objective: In the Netherlands, an increasing number of emergency departments (EDs) and general practitioner cooperatives collaborate by creating one Emergency-Care-Access-Point (ECAP). This has resulted in fewer patients at ECAP EDs. The objective of this study was to explore differences in patient characteristics, presented complaints and ED discharge diagnoses between EDs with an ECAP and EDs without an ECAP.

Quality of after-hours primary care in The Netherlands: adherence to national guidelines.

Objective: To assess the quality of after-hours clinical care as delivered by general practitioner (GP) cooperatives in The Netherlands.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was undertaken of patient health records of five GP cooperatives during 1 year. We used quality indicators derived from national guidelines for the appropriate prescription of pain medication and antibiotics, clinical performance in emergency cases and referral to medical specialists.

GPs' views on transfer of information about terminally ill patients to the out-of-hours co-operative.

Background: In the Netherlands, the increase in of out-of-hours care that is provided by GP co-operatives is challenging the continuity of care for the terminally ill in general practice. Aim of this study is to investigate the views of general practitioners (GPs) on the transfer of information about terminally ill patients to the GP co-operatives. GPs were asked to give their view from two different perspectives: as a GP in their daily practice and as a locum in the GP co-operative.