Posted Oct 26, 2022, 6:10 AM
How is general medicine practiced in France in 2022? This is the question that two studies by the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES), published on Wednesday, attempt to answer.
First lesson: more and more doctors are coming together. At the end of 2010, 54% of doctors practiced in a practice. Today they are 69%. Clearly, seven out of ten general practitioners practice in a group.
Growth of multi-professional health centers
Younger physicians favor this type of organization. 87% of those under 50 work in groups, compared to only 53% for those over 60 or over. This proportion should continue to rise in the coming years. “Doctors who cease their activity mainly belong to generations in which exercise alone is more widespread”, notes the DREES. Women are also more likely to work in private practice (80% compared to 62% for men).
In addition, practice in a multi-professional group – ie the grouping of general practitioners with other health professionals – is progressing. In 2022, it concerns 40% of general practitioners and 60% of doctors working in groups. This development is driven by the rise of multi-professional health centers (MSP). In these structures, general practitioners, dieticians, nurses, physiotherapists or psychologists work side by side.
Regional disparities
At the start of 2022, one in six doctors worked in a multi-professional health center. General practitioners, on the other hand, are only 12% to practice with doctors from other specialties, such as dental surgeons.
Regional disparities exist. Multi-professional practice is thus more frequent in areas of medical under-density. It concerns 71% of group doctors in these territories.
Conversely, groups made up solely of general practitioners are in decline at the national level. In 2019, 34% of general practitioners were concerned by this modality of exercise. They are only 29% in 2022.
The calls to regroup, launched by the Head of State in particular, therefore seem to have been heard. In 2018, during the presentation of his strategy for the transformation of the health system, Emmanuel Macron declared that he wanted “isolated exercise to gradually become marginal”. According to him, this method of organization no longer meets current needs. The call to work in a coordinated manner was renewed at the beginning of October by François Braun, the new Minister of Health.
Massive use of a secretariat
The second study, published by the DREES, focuses on the use of general practitioners in a secretariat. At the beginning of 2022, this practice was widespread among general practitioners. Five general practitioners out of six say they have a secretariat. Once again, younger doctors (95% of those under 50 versus 73% of those over 60) and women (92% versus 78% of men) favor this tool.
Doctors who work in a group (92%) are more likely to have one than those who practice alone (64%). They are also more likely to have a physical secretariat (65%) than doctors alone (24%).