Introduction
Enhancing the quality of care and health outcomes for people living with chronic conditions involves reconfiguring health systems to enable primary care (PC) providers to implement person-centered and coordinated care. As patient-reported information regarding improvement priorities for PC is lacking in most countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) developed and implemented an international survey known as the “PaRIS survey of Patients with Chronic Conditions”. The survey is designed to provide insights on patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) and experiences (PREMs) as well as how these relate to characteristics of PC practices. The PaRIS survey was launched in 2023 in 20 countries, including Switzerland.
Methods
The survey followed a nested design, with the recruitment of PC providers first and their patients subsequently. Over 1’500 individual PC providers were randomly sampled from the federal register of medical professions (MedReg) and invited to participate. To minimize workload for practitioners, a consecutive patient sampling method was implemented: practices were instructed to hand out participation cards to all patients ≥45 years old, living in the community and visiting the practice within the data collection period (January – March 2024). Data were collected with two online questionnaires: the provider questionnaire, collecting information on characteristics of PC practices and the patient questionnaire, including PROMs, PREMs and other characteristics (demographics, chronic conditions, health and care capabilities, health behaviors).
Results
127 PC providers responded to the provider questionnaire. Over 1’000 patients have completed the survey so far (targeted patient sample size is 7’500). We will provide further information on the innovative methods used for practitioner recruitment and survey implementation in Switzerland, as well as insights on the key findings from the survey.
Conclusion
The PaRIS survey aims to comprehensively assess the strengths and weaknesses of PC, by collecting valuable insights from the self-reported experiences and outcomes of PC patients. This initiative seeks to fill the existing information gap in Switzerland and other countries regarding the performance of PC. It also seeks to facilitate and promote international comparisons and cross-country knowledge exchange, shedding light on how health systems worldwide address the needs of people with chronic conditions in PC.