Patient perspective on task shifting from general practitioners to medical practice assistants – a quantitative survey in Germany

INTRODUCTION: Various developments result in increasing workloads in general practices. New models of care and a restructuring of the division of tasks could provide relief. One approach is to extend the delegation of medical tasks from general practitioners (GPs) to medical practice assistants (MPAs). So far, there has been a lack of information about specific situations in which patients are willing to be treated exclusively by MPAs. METHODS: In three German federal states, patients who visited a general practice were surveyed exploratively and cross-sectionally with a self-designed, paper-based questionnaire. The data were analysed descriptively and multivariate. A mixed binary logistic regression model was calculated to account for cluster effects at practice level (random intercept model). The dependent variable was patients' acceptance of task delegation. RESULTS: A total of 1861 questionnaires from 61 general practices were included in the analysis. Regarding the current problem/request, a total of 30% of respondents could imagine being treated only by MPAs. Regarding theoretical reasons for consultation, more than half of the patients agreed to be treated by MPAs. According to the regression model, MPAs were preferred when patients were younger (10-year OR = 0.84, 95%-CI [0.75, 0.93]) or had a less complicated issue (OR = 0.44, 95%-CI [0.26, 0.8]). For four current problems/requests (“acute complaints” OR = 0.27, 95%-CI [0.17, 0.45], “routine health check” OR = 0.48, 95%-CI [0.3, 0.79], “new problem” OR = 0.13, 95%-CI [0.06, 0.28], “known problem” OR = 0.16, 95%-CI [0.1, 0.27]) patients prefer to be treated by GPs instead of MPAs. DISCUSSION: For the first time, statements could be made on patients’ acceptance of task delegation in relation to current and theoretical reasons for treatment in general practices in Germany. The discrepancy in response behaviour on a theoretical and individual level could be explained by different contexts of questions and differences at practice level. Overall, patients seem to be open to increased delegation of medical tasks, depending on the reason for treatment. Selection and response biases should be considered in the interpretation. CONCLUSION: The results are not completely opposed to an extension of task delegation. Further interventional studies could provide information on the possible effects of expansion of delegable tasks.