Allgemeinmedizin und evidenzbasierte Versorgungsforschung

Team leader: Ulrike Spary-Kainz

Focus: The primary aim of this area of work is to establish high-quality teaching in the field of general practice. This should lead to a strengthening of general practice and an improvement in the quality and effectiveness of medical care. To this end, we also work particularly closely and in an advisory capacity with the other two departments as part of our practical expertise in the GP setting in order to initiate well-founded research projects for the primary care sector.

Networking: Our team works closely within the Institute with the Health Services Research team and the Evidence-based Medicine team, as well as with the Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation across the Institute. Networking with other universities is particularly important in the context of teaching research. There is a lively exchange with all public and some private Austrian medical universities and the J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany. There is also a research network with general practitioners and close cooperation with specialists both at the University Hospital and in external healthcare facilities.

    Projects

    General medicine – the first choice, measures to make general medicine 4.0 more attractive (0650)

    • Based on previous research and project results, an urgent need to make general medicine more attractive has been identified. The project “General Medicine – the First Choice” is financially supported by the Styrian Health Fund with the aim of making the profession of general practitioner attractive to young doctors and thus counteracting the impending shortage of general practitioners. IAMEV is responsible for project design and coordination of pre- and post-doctoral measures. Students should be inspired by this subject from the outset and supported throughout their studies. Interested students have the opportunity to take advantage of pre- and post-doctoral mentoring and receive support with their career planning.
    • With its offerings, the project represents a first step toward making general medicine more attractive, which must be followed by further steps to ensure good primary care in the future, especially in rural areas.
    • Another current and future issue in primary care is the increased focus on multiprofessional collaboration, especially in the care of chronically ill patients. The IAMEV, in cooperation with the Styrian Health Fund, is currently piloting programs for selected chronic diseases in various Styrian PVE, which provide algorithms for cooperation between different patient-oriented health professions in primary care units. The implementation is intended to enable integrated care through standardized, continuous, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral support and is being accompanied by the IAMEV in this project.
    • The project is being carried out on behalf of the Styrian Health Fund.
    • Duration: January 2024 to December 2026

    COVI-Prim: Concomitant monitoring of primary care in general practices during the COVID-19 pandemic (COVI-Prim)

    • This transnational cooperation project records and analyzes the challenges faced by general practitioners during this pandemic and how they are being addressed. This was done through a baseline survey and weekly short online questionnaires. This allowed the dynamic nature of the situation to be taken into account. In addition to Germany and Austria, the project is now being carried out in four other European countries (Switzerland, Italy/South Tyrol, Hungary, Slovenia) and in Australia.
    • Duration: 2020-2021
    • Funding: The project is financed from the internal funds of the participating scientific institutions.
    • Project partners: In cooperation with the Institute for Informatics, Statistics and Documentation at the Medical University of Graz; the Institute for General, Family and Preventive Medicine at Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg; the Institute for General Medicine at the Medical University of Innsbruck; the Institute for General Medicine at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main; Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland
    • COVI-Prim Start Publication: Siebenhofer et al., COVI-Prim survey: Challenges for Austrian and German general practitioners during initial phase of COVID-19, PLOS One 2021 Jun (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251736) /

    PI

    Ulrike Spary-Kainz  
    T: +43 316 385 73561