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Set aside the Capital CM - do GPs indulge in care management (as in 'surely they do, don't they'?)? Please forgive lengthy posting - just trying to set out the context for the query. - but who knows, probably a FAQ? Sitting in on conversation the other day with couple of GPs and their Practice Manager, chatting about information for Fund Mgt, when call rec'd from local Trust re having just done (an expensive) investigation - sans prior authorisation. GP concerned explodes, while all flip mental hats to consider matters at client/patient-specific level. Mix of Mrs Smith's clinical & resource mgt issues discussed. After a while we return to aggregate Fund Mgt thinking again. At another meeting a while back between Trust IM&T folk, some perplexity (as in 'how can they be so inconvenient') as to why GPs as purchasers should be so keen on getting patient-specific line-by-line feedback on activity. 'Couldn't they be happy with...the number 42...?' Then another conversation with a GP who took some time to explain the increasing amount of time that he and his colleagues wd. be spending on the case management of complex care, over extended periods of time, where some quite subtle/sophisticated management of the care provided by the patient's team (incl. carer) wd be needed. At this point things began to feel eerily familiar (SWD background kicks in). Seems that the GPs concerned do need to be able to switch hats rapidly from clinician to resource manager & vice versa - with assoc. information needs. Currently this mix of information req'ts isn't met, seemingly, and they experience this as a problem. a) Does this hat-switching, with assoc info. reqts, ring any bells for GP-UKers? b) if it _is_ a problem, has it already been cracked by one or more of your helpful suppliers? c) if the answer to b) is no, how about...a heretical thought? Thing is, that social care informaticians have been wrestling with an equivalent mix of practitioner and resource management issues for some while now, and some quite useful-looking person-based systems are emerging which seem OK at things like - resource-tracking in complex cases - linking assessed needs with interventions needed, then with services to supply these interventions - creating Care Plans for individuals and subsequently monitoring progress. No possibility of a straight clone, obviously, but does seem worth while thinking about lessons learnt that might be transferable...does it? What d'you think? Peter Ashe [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%