| Abstract: | On the basic level of health care in Slovenia, the role of a physician is a role of a doorman and coordinator: besides the low-threshold access to health care, regulation of the health system has also entrusted him with the role of a doorman - coordinator. Some studies conducted in our regions have shown that a family physician solves nearly 80% of the patients' problems in his practice. An analysis of 12,296 consultations in the family physician's practice revealed that, in Slovenia, 20.2% of the examined patients are referred to see a specialist. The frequency of referrals is affected by patient characteristics, the physician and the environment in which the physician practices. A specialist in general/family medicine often communicates with specialists at the secondary and tertiary levels of health care. Family medicine specialists learn to collaborate with specialists at the secondary and tertiary levels through a module comprising 16 pedagogical hours. Our health system provides for formal channels of communication, and the development of information technology offers unused solutions. Good practice examples for inter-level communication enable physicians to establish a direct contact with the clinical specialist and the patients to transit the health system in a faster and more effective manner. Good treatment outcomes depend on a well-coordinated multidisciplinary management. Interpersonal communication between members of the multidisciplinary team treating individual patients is necessary and inevitable. Besides classic and formal communication, there are also numerous informal channels available, which have a positive effect on the relationship between members of the multidisciplinary team, and thus also between different levels of patient management. Some examples of good practice at this level have already been established, facilitating the work of the participating physicians and, most of all, affecting the treatment outcomes. |
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