ESSENTIAL DATA SET FOR COMPUTER MANAGEMENT OF DISTRIBUTED PRIMARY-CARE SERVICES

Reported here is a personal computer-based registration program of med ical consultations in general practice that has been implemented in si x communities ('primary health care districts'; total population 112 6 23) in the county of Jonkoping, southern Sweden. The program enabled d ecentralized monitoring and management of the primary health care orga nization in the communities. The objective of the present paper is to give, from one year's experience of about 137 000 recorded visits, a b road overview of the program structure, briefly considering the questi ons associated with routine registration of medical consultations, to discuss how the system is used for decision and steering support as we ll as to summarize its overall performance, results and costs in relat ion to the general utility of accurate information on health service d elivery and consumption in the population.