Quality improvement within Independent Practitioner Associations: lessons from New Zealand

To ascertain what quality improvement activities are being performed by associations of general practitioners (GPs) in New Zealand, to find out how they are supporting these activities, and learn about their experience of the process.

A cross sectional questionnaire study of 25 independent practitioner associations (IPAs) in New Zealand.

All respondents (n=25) believed quality improvement was a responsibility of their organization, and for 48% it was their highest priority. All organizations carried out and supported a range of quality improvement activities. The major perceived barriers to quality improvement were negative attitudes and lack of time and money to support the process. Strategies to overcome these barriers included providing comparative data to staff in a peer group setting and providing financial incentives, management support and education.

Considerable quality improvement activity is occurring in primary care in New Zealand. A variety of barriers to the process and methods of overcoming them have been identified by some, but not all IPAs.