Exploring General Practitioner Work in Upper Austria: A Pilot Retrospective Observational Study Across Thirty Practices
Erika ZELKO
Orcid profile, Thomas PEINBAUER
Orcid profile, Lisa VOGGENBERGER
Orcid profile, Fabian BEKELAER
Orcid profile, Julia PANTOGLOU
Orcid profile, Denise STÜBL
Orcid profile and Erwin REBHANDL
Orcid profile 
Article Category: Original scientific article
Published Online: Jan 02, 2025
Page range: 49 - 58
Received: Jul 11, 2024
Accepted: Oct 04, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2025-0007
Keywords
© 2025 Erika ZELKO et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Introduction
This study investigates the differences in patient care across various organisational forms of general practitioners (GPs) in Upper Austria.
Methods
Data was collected from GPs across Upper Austria, examining patient demographics, prescription patterns, staff employment, services offered and the proximity of practices to hospitals. The variability in recording patient visit reasons was also analysed.
Results
Of the 30 participating GPs (Response Rate 5.1%), 17 worked in single practices, 7 in group practices, and 6 in PHC units. In our sample, single practices tend to prescribe more medications for chronic conditions. Group practices and PHC centres are more prevalent in areas with larger populations, offer online appointment bookings more frequently and employ more staff. The study also highlights variability in documenting patient visit reasons, emphasising the need for standardised documentation practices. The most common reasons for the patient to contact their GP, based on ICPC-2 categories, were general and non-specific, respiratory and locomotor problems, and the most common chronic diseases seen in the practice are cardiovascular, endocrine diseases and locomotor system problems. The most common therapeutic procedures were counselling and prescription of medication.
Conclusion
Our study, the first of its kind, reveals significant insights into the variability and adaptability of general medicine outpatient practices in Upper Austria, highlighting the need for improved diagnosis coding at the primary care level.