General Practitioners’ medical practices in territories that have become subject to high-priority intervention (“Zones d’intervention prioritaire (ZIP)”)

Between 2014 and 2017, general practitioners working in territories subject to high-priority intervention on primary care supply (ZIP territories) had specific ways of exercising medicine. These territories are characterised by insufficient healthcare supply or difficulties regarding access to healthcare.

These general practitioners had a higher number of patients and provided more medical services (office and home visits) than the ones not working in ZIP territories. However, their declared number of weekly working hours was roughly the same. Consequently, the average length of consultation is shorter in ZIP territories than in other territories.

General practitioners in ZIP territories had slightly fewer professional relationships with other healthcare professionals and dedicated less time to continuous training. They also tended to prescribe more opioid painkillers, but less paramedical care and they did less preventive care.

These results account for observed characteristics of the practitioners, of their patients and of their practicing locations. Even if there are differences in their ways of practicing medicine, general practitioners in ZIP territories are not different from their colleagues regarding their conception of their work (medical monitoring of their patients, psychological and social support, healthcare coordination, etc.).