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Research ArticleResearch Briefs

Free Children’s Visits and General Practice Attendance

Michael Edmund O’Callaghan, Lina Zgaga, Darach O’Ciardha and Thomas O’Dowd
The Annals of Family Medicine May 2018, 16 (3) 246-249; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2229
Michael Edmund O’Callaghan
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
MICGP, MSc
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Lina Zgaga
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
MD, MSc, PhD
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Darach O’Ciardha
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
MICGP
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Thomas O’Dowd
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
MA, MD, MICGP, FRCGP, FTCD
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    Figure 1

    Temporal pattern of monthly general practice visits by children aged younger than 6 years.

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    Table 1

    Comparison of General Practice Use in the Year Before and the Year After Policy Change

    Setting and Payment StatusYear Before Policy ChangeYear After Policy Change
    All AgesAged <6 yAll AgesAged <6 y
    PatientsVisitsPatientsVisitsVisits per PatientPatientsVisitsPatientsVisitsVisits per Patient
    Daytime
    Out of pocket15,82839,4572,4156,0532.5115,84239,4191,011a1,753a1.73
    Free of charge13,99160,8471,1423,7363.2715,14867,1873,347a10,847a3.24
    Totalb29,951100,3043,5409,7892.7731,143106,6063,87412,6003.25
    Out of hours
    Out of pocket14,78217,3655,0236,5651.3112,30713,6031,456a1,619a1.11
    Free of charge21,55831,6735,0178,4841.6927,56940,70410,824a17,290a1.60
    Unknown29930834381.1233936541491.20
    Totalb36,30049,3469,89815,0871.5239,61354,67211,89018,9581.59
    • ↵a Difference between period before and period after policy change was significant (P <.001).

    • ↵b Total number of patients does not equal sum of those in each payment cohort (out-of-pocket and free-of-charge cohorts) as some patients moved between cohorts during the study and thus may appear in both.

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The Annals of Family Medicine: 16 (3)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 16 (3)
Vol. 16, Issue 3
May/June 2018
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Free Children’s Visits and General Practice Attendance
Michael Edmund O’Callaghan, Lina Zgaga, Darach O’Ciardha, Thomas O’Dowd
The Annals of Family Medicine May 2018, 16 (3) 246-249; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2229

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Free Children’s Visits and General Practice Attendance
Michael Edmund O’Callaghan, Lina Zgaga, Darach O’Ciardha, Thomas O’Dowd
The Annals of Family Medicine May 2018, 16 (3) 246-249; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2229
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Subjects

  • Person groups:
    • Children's health
  • Methods:
    • Quantitative methods
  • Other research types:
    • Health policy
  • Core values of primary care:
    • Access
  • Other topics:
    • Disparities in health and health care

Keywords

  • general practice
  • health care utilization
  • primary health care
  • after-hours
  • out-of-hours
  • child
  • pediatrics
  • Ireland
  • fee-for-service
  • fees and charges
  • practice-based research
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  • state medicine

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