[Information for quality assurance and self-evaluation in general practice. Use of data from the EDP medical records in general practice].

A project was carried out to study the usefulness of ordinary data from computer-based journals for comparing practices. 20 general practitioners from four municipalities participated for four months in 1992. The computer-based journal provides accurate information on the number and kind of contacts with patients, and on who visits the general practitioner. It also tells what is done at each contact, such as a referral, prescription or laboratory tests. Using the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) even the most common diagnoses do not account for more than 3% of the consultations. The practice of the different doctors varies considerably as regards classifying consultations on a symptom level (ICPC 1-29) or a diagnosis level (ICPC 70-99). The results brought to light marked differences with regard to what general practitioners do, and what kind of problems their patients present. The patient populations differed to a lesser degree with respect to sex, age and social status. The findings provided an interesting and useful platform for group discussions among the participating doctors.