Tor Iversen, University of Oslo - The impact of team-based primary care on recommended services, general practitioners’ working hours and list size

Title: The impact of team-based primary care on recommended services, general practitioners’ working hours and list size

Abstract: In 2018, the Norwegian government initiated a primary healthcare teams (PHT) pilot to test whether expanding general practices with nurses could enhance the quality of care for patients with large and complex needs. Practices that joined PHT had to hire nurses and choose between activity-based and block-funding payment models. We focus on the activity-based model, which incentivizes increased activity to cover the nurse salary. Using panel data that cover all Norwegian general practices from 2012-2022 and difference-in-differences analysis, we find that the additional capacity provided by the nurse is utilized to enhance the quality of care rather than increasing the number of patients registered with the practice or reducing GP working hours. This result suggests that team-based care may effectively address the unmet needs of high-need patients.

Presenter: Tor Iversen, University of Oslo

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