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Physician Patterns in the Provision of Health Care to Their Own Employees
Randy A. Sansone, MD;
Lori A. Sansone, MD;
Michael W. Wiederman, PhD
Arch Fam Med. 1995;4(8):686-689.
Abstract
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Objective
To determine the level of medical and mental health care that family physicians provide to employees.
Design
Mailed survey.
Setting
Family practices in Oklahoma.
Subjects
Two hundred ninety-one of 735 physicians accessed via the membership roster of the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians.
Results
The majority of physician respondents (55.6%) reported providing routine health care always or most of the time to employees. Rural practice sites were associated with the provision of broader medical services (Spearman's p=—.35, P<.00001);51.7% of respondents reported providing routine health care always or most of the time to employees' families. Breast and genital examinations were more likely to be undertaken in family members (67.2%) compared with employees (50.0%). Only a minority of physician respondents (12.3%) reported providing mental health care always or most of the time to employees; 53% never or rarely provided this service. When mental health care was addressed, respondents provided counseling alone (28.6%), prescription of psychotropic medication alone (8.8%), or both (62.7%). Antidepressants (50.7%) and nonbenzodiazepine anxiolytic agents (36.2%) were most frequently prescribed. When asked about ideal conditions, a significant minority of physician respondents (41.3%) preferred to refer employees to colleagues for medical care, and 59.8% preferred to refer for mental health care.
Conclusion
The majority of family physicians in this study reported providing medical care to their employees, whereas only a minority provide mental health care.
Author Affiliations
From the Department of Psychiatry (Dr R. Sansone) and Family Practice (Dr L. Sansone), the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Tulsa, and Medical Care Associates of Tulsa (Dr L. Sansone); and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita (Dr Wiederman).
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