Delivery of Home Health Care - Survey in Quebec

OBJECTIVE To describe the characteristics of home health care delivered by general practitioners and to identify the conditions that facilitate or hin der development of this practice. DESIGN Mailed survey. SETTING Quebec city region. PARTICIPANTS General practitioners in private practice, family practice uni ts, community health centres, or hospitals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather information on volume of home care provided, characteristics of clients and visits, methods of follow up, and factors that promoted or hindered home c are. RESULTS Of the 487 physicians surveyed, 58.1% (283) made housecalls to a cl ientele consisting mainly of elderly patients (87.6%): 42% saw fewer than f ive patients per week, and 31% spent 2 hours or less per week on housecalls . Close to two thirds (64%) devoted 15 to 30 minutes to these visits, and 9 0.2% said they used community health centres for assessment or home follow up of their patients. Difficulties with scheduling and methods of remunerat ion reportedly hampered development of this practice. CONCLUSION Home care practice is widespread around Quebec city, but represe nts only a small portion of the clinical work of many GPs.