Patients use healthcare services more when their regular GP leaves, study finds

Patients may use healthcare services more often after their regular GP has either retired or moved to work in another practice, a Norwegian study has indicated.1

Although previous research found that being cared for by the same GP over time was associated with higher satisfaction among patients, better outcomes, and reduced healthcare costs, less is known about the effect of GPs retiring or relocating on patients’ behaviour and health.

A team of researchers from Norway set out to examine this question, looking at patients’ use of healthcare services in the three years before their GP’s departure and how they used services afterwards. Using national data registers in Norway, the …