Private vs corporate: does it impact quality of general practice care?
Australian researchers suggest the trend towards larger corporate owned general practices may affect access and quality of patient care – but a GP expert says the evidence is lacking.
There are three components to continuity of care that go beyond seeing the same individual GP.
It’s no secret that the organisational structure of general practice in Australia has changed over the years.
The RACGP’s 2019 General Practice: Health of the Nation report shows a considerable decline in GP practice ownership, down from 35% in 2008 to 25% in 2020, with two corporate groups operating more than 400 medical centres.
Currently, 20% of full-time GPs are employed in large practices (with six or more GPs), and approximately 16% of GPs work in corporate-owned practices.