Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH)

The BEACH Program is a continuous national study of general practitioner clinical activities in Australia. Data include:

• characteristics of the GPs 

• characteristics of the patients seen 

• reasons people seek medical care (patient reasons for encounter)* 

• problems managed, and for each problem managed (direct link)* 

• • medications prescribed, advised, provided

  • clinical treatments and procedures provided*

  • referrals to specialists and allied health services*

  • test orders including pathology and imaging*.

BEACH began in April 1998.

As of July 2012 the BEACH database included about 1.4 million GP-patient encounter records.

More information about BEACH can be found here

Details of publications resulting from the BEACH study can be found here