General Practice Activity in Australia 2011-12

Book excerpt: The book provides a summary of results from the 14th year of the BEACH program, a continuing national study of general practice activity in Australia. From April 2011 to March 2012, 984 general practitioners recorded details about 98,400 GP-patient encounters, at which patients presented 153,218 reasons for encounter and 152,286 problems were managed. For an 'average' 100 problems managed, GPs recorded: 70 medications (including 57 prescribed, six supplied to the patient and seven advised for over-the-counter purchase); 11 procedures; 24 clinical treatments (advice and counselling); six referrals to specialists and three to allied health services; orders for 31 pathology tests and seven imaging tests. A subsample study of more than 31,000 patients suggests prevalence of the following measured risk factors in the attending adult (18 years and over) patient population: obesity - 27 per cent; overweight - 35 per cent; daily smoking - 15 per cent; at-risk alcohol consumption - 25 per cent. One in four people in the attending population had at least two of these risk factors. A companion publication, A Decade of Australian General Practice Activity 2001-02 to 2010-11 is also available.