Objective: To investigate what factors influence the quality of general practitioner performance in consultations for non-acute abdominal complaints and to establish the extent to which performance quality differs between general practitioners (GPs).
Design: Explorative study in two parts: (i) detection of variables influencing quality scores of consultations; and (ii) comparison of mean quality scores of the consultations, selected by each GP.
Setting: Sixty-two family practices across The Netherlands.
Subjects: Eight-hundred and forty consultations concerning non-acute abdominal complaints, first encounters; 62 GPs.
Method: Multilevel analysis was carried out to detect factors that influence quality. After correction for the effect of significant factors the mean quality scores of individual GPs were calculated and compared.
Results: Eighty-eight per cent of the total variance in quality scores was located at the consultation/patient level, and 12% at the GP level. One consultation characteristic had significant influence on quality: quality scores were higher in consultations of longer than average duration (>15 minutes). Several patient characteristics were of significant influence. Consultation quality scores were higher in consultations for patients with upper abdominal or non-specific abdominal complaints. Quality scores were lower in consultations with female patients and with patients aged >40 years. Together these characteristics explained 20% of the variance at the GP level. None of the GP characteristics investigated in this study appeared to have significant influence on the quality of their performance. After correction of the scores for the effect of significant factors the differences in performance quality between GPs remained significant.
Conclusions: Quality of performance is far more influenced by consultation and patient characteristics than by GP characteristics. After correction for influencing factors, the mean quality scores of GPs still differed considerably and significantly. For many GPs the quality scores varied substantially between different consultations; to a large extent this variation remained unexplained. Consultation quality can be improved by booking more time per patient and by giving more medical/technical attention to female and older patients.