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Medication discussion groups in the Netherlands: five years of experience
Author(s) -
Kocken Geert A L
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2923.1999.00365.x
Subject(s) - family medicine , medical education , foundation (evidence) , quality (philosophy) , medicine , psychology , nursing , political science , philosophy , epistemology , law
Nation‐wide implementation of medication discussion (MD) groups in the Netherlands was designed as a bottom‐up approach and has been in progress for five years. This invites a review of what has been achieved in these structured discussions between general practitioners and pharmacists. Context Early in 1997 the Dutch Foundation for Effective Use of Medication (DGV) initiated a fact‐finding exercise among general practitioners and pharmacists representing MD groups all over the country. Objective Description of the setting up and the operation of medical discussion groups. Comparison of the quality of the consultations between the start of the project (1992) and 1997. Methods Two surveys of medical discussion groups in 1992 and 1997, respectively. Results The quality of the consultations was found to have improved in comparison with an evaluation shortly after the start of the project. Conclusion The overwhelming majority of those interviewed were satisfied with the MD process, which they consider a useful effort. But there is also a wish for increased commitment to guidelines agreed in MD group consultations.