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Physicians' views on joint treatment guidelines for primary and secondary care.

OBJECTIVE
Joint drug formularies and treatment guidelines have been developed to reduce problems arising at the interface between primary and secondary care. The aim is to compare the willingness of hospital specialists and general practitioners to use joint treatment guidelines, and to determine the most relevant barriers and facilitators.


STUDY DESIGN
A structured survey, consisting of questions about the use of guidelines and formularies in general, and possible barriers and facilitators for using a specific joint guideline. These specific guidelines concerned the treatment of hypertension, heart failure, or diabetes mellitus.


SETTING AND STUDY PARTICIPANTS
One hundred and ninety-seven general practitioners and 34 general internists and cardiologists from the north of the Netherlands.


RESULTS
Most hospital specialists relied for their prescribing on international guidelines and agreements within their own department, while general practitioners relied more on national and regional guidelines. General practitioners were more supportive than specialists of the initiative to develop joint treatment guidelines, although both groups had concerns regarding the development process. An important barrier for specialists was that they did not perceive a need for these guidelines. As enabling factors, physicians stated that these joint guidelines can lead to harmonization between specialists and general practitioners, and that they can be useful as an educational tool.


CONCLUSION
Specialists are less ready to adopt joint treatment guidelines than general practitioners, indicating the need for a different approach to implement such guidelines in the two sectors.