How can General practitioners improve the quality of their care?

Aims: To examine General Practitioners work it seems necessary to identify and estimate their medical consultations or to ask them for their view on their work with patients. Methods: In this study about quality management in psychosomatic basic care, we collected data of 378 GPs and Internists out of all 3212 working in Berlin. They were asked for their needs in practical care and 156 of them took part on different quality management programs. Results: If symptoms decrease since first diagnosis and it was a better health status this was seen as therapeutic success by GP's (56.1%) and by patients (65.8%). If the patient has understood the physician (79.3%) and the GP had shown empathy (92.6%) this was another reason for satisfaction in both. GP's reported their need to improve the epidemiologic and clinical knowledge in psychosomatic disturbances like functional GI disorders, pain, depression, anxiety and sleeping disorders as well as sexual dysfunctions. They wanted to improve psychosomatic diagnostic and therapeutic abilities, strengthen the patient-physician relationship and utilize the placebo response. This was done in a 9 x 2 hours teaching course which was evaluated in 66 physicians. Diagnostic capabilities (p