Primary care for adults in Chile: analysis of basic information Atención primaria del adulto en Chile: análisis de la información básica.

Abstract

According to national data the Chilean adult population on the average has 2.5 annual ambulatory visits with an increasing trend in the last decade. The figure has significant variation in the diverse geographic regions. Taking pregnant women out, main diseases assisted at the outpatient departments of general consultation include in a 70%, problems usually of the competence of internal medicine specialists. The solving problem capacity in these departments is 80 to 85% which means that 15-20% of the patients needs to be referred to a higher complexity medical care level. According to the National Health Service experience, two-thirds of the primary care level are done by general practitioners and one-third by specialists. A scarce preventive component and a low coverage of chronic disease among adult people and the problems of the primary care in the National Health Service are commented. A new structure of medical care levels is proposed separating a first level with include rural an