Family Medicine researchers share knowledge with Norway

In many ways, Norway's health care system is similar to Canada's. Coverage is provided universally and Norwegians benefit from excellent compulsory state-funded care. One issue, however, is that the country's primary care – meaning care mostly provided by a family medicine physician – is managed by almost 430 different municipalities.

Dr. Frank Sullivan

          Dr. Frank Sullivan

“It's fragmented and we're missing a great opportunity to collect and to learn from research based on family practice,” says Dr. Guri Rørtveit, Physician and Professor at the University of Bergen, Norway. “Our family medicine physicians need a way to share, capture and analyze patient data so we can better understand Norway's most pressing health concerns.”

In hopes of one day creating a Norwegian primary care research network, Dr. Rørtveit approached international experts who had already made headway in their respective countries. In Canada, this included Dr. Frank Sullivan, North York General Hospital's Gordon F. Cheesbrough Research Chair in Family and Community Medicine. Dr. Sullivan is also appointed to the role of Director of the University of Toronto Practice Based Research Network (UTOPIAN), a network of the 14 University of Toronto primary care sites working together to improve patient care in community settings.
 

Dr. David White
          Dr. David  White

“At North York General, our family physicians are recognized innovators in developing and implementing new models of primary health care,” Dr. Sullivan says. “They are truly at the forefront of research, particularly in areas related to collecting data from electronic medical records to track health patterns among our population. We've long recognized that community physicians are uniquely positioned to make important health discoveries.”

Dr. Rørtveit also spoke with Dr. David White, North York General Family Medicine Physician and formerly Interim Director of UTOPIAN. “Family medicine physicians usually act autonomously,” Dr. White says. “Participating in a large-scale study, which includes recruiting patients, obtaining consent and then reporting back observations, requires a significant amount of time and effort. There needs to be a structure in place to help facilitate and promote this type of research. I think we've made significant strides here and we were happy to share what we have learned.”
Norway's primary care is managed by almost 430 different municipalities.
Dr. Rørtveit spent two months in Toronto learning from Dr. Sullivan, Dr. White and other researchers committed to furthering Canadian primary care research. Her findings were subsequently published in Utposten (The Outpost), a Norwegian medical journal.

“What is happening in Canada is truly visionary,” Dr. Rørtveit says. “While we're still in the planning stages in Norway, I'm confident we too will one day be able to build a network that can effectively help establishing new ways of diagnostics and management for patients in family medicine. I believe the time has come for some change to the benefit of our patients.”


 

 

This article first appeared in the September 2015 issue of The Pulse.

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