The doctors on the front lines in America feel that they are not really prepared to handle very ill patients, according to a new survey when compared to the doctors from other nations. Around 1:4 primary care doctors in America said that their practices are not well prepared to handle patients with complex medical needs. In Germany and in the Netherlands, nearly 12% of the primary care doctors said that they are not well prepared. However, in America came the highest cases of chronic ailments in the 10 nation survey. But, in a lot of measures about care management, the U.S was ranked in the middle or bottom of the group.

Sturdy primary care infrastructure

According to Dr. Blumenthal, they need a sturdy primary care infrastructure and they do not have it yet to this day and they never had it for such a long time now and it is quite getting worse though. The survey that was published in the December issue of a write up said that in a lot of countries with the strong need for a primary care system, the doctors work as gatekeepers, while the nurses work as care managers to help in managing the entire number of patients admitted, this was explained in a study by the author Mr. Osborn. He added that in a primary health care, there must be teamwork.

The new survey rejected the data from more than 11,000 primary care doctors in Australia, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, UK and in America. In the U. S, the primary care doctors include general doctors, family doctors, internists and the pediatricians. There were reports saying that there are gaps in the care coordination, access to the care and other information over the 10 richest countries. 1:3 doctors in America say that he/she is always given a notice whenever a patient is discharged from the hospital or is seen in the ER. The Netherlands actually leads the other countries with regard to the measures with 2 in 3 doctors stating that they hear from the hospital or ER.  In the Netherlands as well as Great Britain, over 80% of the doctors typically do home visits, while in America, there were only 6%.

The behavioral health system

In the 90 out of the 10 surveyed nations, the doctors said that they feel that they are not prepared to manage chronic mental health problems or problems linked to substance abuse. The confidentiality of the doctors is very low in America and in Sweden with less than 1 in 6 says that they are ready. According to Dr. Damle, they work in various ways and styles; he is a private doctor in America. He added that they have the behavioral health system and they have the medical system, yet the 2 don’t communicate well, he added. There were few nice points in the survey and having a primary stride in embracing the electronic medical records in the present years, 57% of which belongs to the American primary care doctors.