Primary care as a means of decreasing health care costs

Abstract

This study was focused at furthering the health objectives of the South African Government's Reconstruction and Development Programme in the area of primary care. The purpose of the study is to examine the possible reduction of medical scheme claims for cardiovascular disease by means of primary care, so that medical scheme benefits do not become exhausted so rapidly. A quantitative approach, using an explorative and descriptive design was used. A survey was done by means of a questionnaire which was distributed to 250 principal members of the medical scheme in four selected divisions of a private organization. Thereafter, a limited clinical assessment was done on the participants. In addition, case studies were used to illustrate the cost savings that could be obtained by the delivery of managed primary care of cardiovascular (CVD) conditions. Results showed that 27% of the participants had current, or a history of cardiovascular-related conditions, and 32.15% were identified as having an overall high risk for CVD. Contributing circumstances aggravating these conditions were lifestyle-related issues. Nurse-based primary care should focus on primary prevention, for example, taking personal responsibility, weight management, sufficient exercise, discontinuing smoking habits, stress management, and secondary prevention which involves annual medical evaluation, and a focused approach on specific screening protocols.