[Medical quality circles for drug replacement therapy]

Drug replacement therapy using synthetic opioids is in Vienna mostly carried out by primary care physicians. Group teaching in quality assurance groups has been installed in order to give these doctors the necessary personal and informational assistance. Evaluation has shown that: 1. 90% of the doctors were highly or well satisfied with the teaching. Only 10% were slightly critical. 2. They could better communicate with, and were able to show more tolerance towards, the "difficult" patients. 3. Specialized knowledge increased (risk of infection, "management of hepatitis", contact with authorities, co-medication). 4. Some critical remarks pointed towards ways in which this particular further education could in future be better organized and dealt with more intensively.