Is prevention unbalancing general practice?

Abstract

Australia has begun to encourage and financially reward general practitioners for implementing preventive activities. While an expanding preventive agenda for general practice remains attractive, there is a real potential for opportunity costs, especially in the absence of realistic practice-based support for preventive care. These costs may include a shift from the needs of individual patients to those of the community. It is crucial not to neglect the concept of relationship-centred primary care (which may actually enhance preventive activities), as well as enhancing the preventive environment of the practice, when considering strategies to improve preventive uptake.