PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Henk Schers
AU  - Henk van den Hoogen
AU  - Hans Bor
AU  - Richard Grol
AU  - Wil van den Bosch
TI  - Preference for a general practitioner and patients' evaluations of care: a cross-sectional study
DP  - 2004 Sep 01
TA  - British Journal of General Practice
PG  - 693--694
VI  - 54
IP  - 506
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/54/506/693.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/54/506/693.full
SO  - Br J Gen Pract2004 Sep 01; 54
AB  - Personal continuity is no longer always evident in general practice. Changes in society and in general practice seem to have shifted away from an emphasis on personal patient–doctor relationships. We studied how patients' lack of preference for a particular general practitioner (GP) or preference for a different GP is related to patients' evaluations of care. Patients who were indifferent to the GP seen, and patients who would have preferred another GP, evaluated consultations significantly less positively than patients who saw their GP of preference. Developments towards less personal doctoring in general practice should, therefore, be considered carefully.