Coordinating health care: lessons from Norway

OBJECTIVE: What influences the coordination of care between general practitioners and hospitals? In this paper, general practitioner satisfaction with hospital—GP interaction is revealed, and related to several background variables. METHOD: A questionnaire was sent to all general practitioners in Norway (3388), asking their opinion on the interaction and coordination of health care in their district. A second questionnaire was sent to all the somatic hospitals in Norway (59) regarding formal routines and structures. The results were analysed using ordinary least squares regression. RESULTS: General practitioners tend to be less satisfied with the coordination of care when their primary hospital is large and cost-effective with a high share of elderly patients. Together with the degree to which the general practitioner is involved in arenas where hospital physicians and general practitioners interact, these factors turned out to be good predictors of general practitioner satisfaction. IMPLICATION: To improve coordination between general practitioners and specialists, one should focus upon the structural traits within the hospitals in different regions as well as creating common arenas where the physicians can interact.