The ECOGEN study: an educational process for University departments of general practice

Laurent Letrilliart,^1,5 Irène Supper,¹ Pascal Boulet,² Matthieu Schuers,^2,5 David Darmon,³ Madeleine Favre,⁴ Alain Mercier^2,5

¹ Université de Lyon 1, ² Université de Rouen, ³ Université de Nice, ⁴ Université de Paris 5, ⁵ Conseil Scientifique du CNGE, Paris, France

Context

Although some data are available on consultation results (i.e., health problems) in general practice, patients’ reasons for encounter are not known in France. The process of care, whether they are performed or planned, also are poorly documented, apart from the procedures subject to billing.

The ECOGEN study (Eléments de la COnsultation en médecine GENérale), developed within the framework of the research network of the French National college of teachers in general practice (CNGE), is aimed at describing the reasons for encounter and the process of care (performed or planned) linked to the main health problems (consultation results) managed in general practice in France.

Methods

The investigators are the residents of the various French Medical schools, during their supervised training period in a teaching general practice. Each resident will be trained to data collection and analysis during a seminar of one day and a half, as well as the director of his or her medical thesis. The data will be collected between December 2011 and April 2012. They will be classified according to the ICPC-2 and entered in a centralised database (developed as an extension to the previous Prometheus project) in a Website dedicated to the project.

After merging data from each training site, the expected sample size is of more than 22,500 consultations, with 54 residents recruited. Each resident will have the opportunity to access to the global database to achieve his or her thesis work.

Expected results

This study should enable to better know the activity of the French general practitioners, in terms of diagnostics and process of care (performed or planned for diagnostic, therapeutic or administrative purpose), which could contribute to base a future reform of consultation pricing on objective data.

On the educational level, i twill allow to increase the knowledge of the French teachers of general practice on the interest of structuring the consultation data, for research (especially within university networks) but also for teaching (database of clinical cases, for instance).