General Practice Activity in Australia 2012-13

The book provides a summary of results from the 15th year of the BEACH program, a continuing national study of general practice activity in Australia.From April 2012 to March 2013, 978 general practitioners recorded details about 97,800 GP-patient encounters, at which patients presented 152,278 reasons for encounter and 152,517 problems were managed. For an 'average' 100 problems managed, GPs recorded: 66 medications (including 54 prescribed, six supplied to the patient and six advised for over-the-counter purchase); 11 procedures; 24 clinical treatments (advice and counselling); six referrals to specialists and three to allied health services; orders for 30 pathology tests and seven imaging tests.A subsample study of more than 31,000 patients suggests prevalence of the following measured risk factors in the attending adult (18 years and over) patient population: obesity - 26 per cent; overweight - 34 per cent; daily smoking - 17 per cent; at-risk alcohol consumption - 27 per cent. One in four people in the attending population had at least two of these risk factors.A companion publication, A Decade of Australian General Practice Activity 2003-04 to 2012-13 is also available.