[Patient Management In Outpatient Primary Care: Online Survey Among Physicians In Primary Care Units And...

Outpatient primary care in Austria is characterized by a pronounced lack of systemic transparency and existing barriers to care along the entire patient journey. This necessitates the improvement of comprehensive patient and resource management through coordinated workflow organization and integrated collaboration. The question arises: How should comprehensive patient management in outpatient primary care be designed and further developed from the perspective of the healthcare professionals involved?

An online survey was conducted (June 11, 2025 - June 20, 2025) among physicians (n=123) working in primary care units (PCU) and physiotherapists with a public health insurance contract (n=153). The response rate was n=46 and rr=16.7%, respectively (PVE physicians: n=23, rr=18.7%; physiotherapists: n=23, rr=15.0%).

From the perspective of the health professionals, the prioritized objectives of patient management lay in tactical and operational goals such as relief, cure, prevention, coordinated diagnostics, and continuous care. The PVE physicians weighted these overarching goals more highly than the physiotherapists who were also involved, indicating the latter's primary responsibility for comprehensive patient management.

Visualization, analysis, and dialogue based on a patient journey are suitable methods for consolidating the identified solutions and areas of action for comprehensive patient management. In this context, important areas of action, such as prevention, home exercise programs, therapy adherence, and coordination and communication between stakeholders and patients, can be assigned concrete potentials for improvement, such as access design, technology use and organizational methods using educational videos, quality-oriented remuneration, AI-supported therapies, and multi-professional quality circles.