Status quo of contracted family doctor services in Shandong province: from the perspective of residents

  Objective  To explore the situation on recognition and utilization of contracted family doctor services among residents in Shandong province and to compare differences in the recognition and utilization between urban and rural residents.

  Methods  With stratified multi-stage random sampling, we conducted face-to-face interviews among 1 200 residents aged 18 years and above in urban communities or rural villages in three municipalities of Shandong province in 2017. We compiled a questionnaire for the survey based literature review and expert consultation. Epi Data 3.1 and SPSS 17.0 statistical software were adopted in data processing and analyses.

  Results  A total of 1 052 valid questionnaires were collected. Compared to that among the rural residents, the awareness rate of contracted family doctor service was lower among the urban residents (70.3% vs. 92.1%) but the proportion of knowing nothing about the items of the services was higher among the urban residents than that of rural residents (30.4% 93 people vs. 10.3% 77 people). The urban residents also reported significantly lower ratios of selecting community healthcare institutions when visiting a doctor at first (46.7% vs. 85.8% ), utilizing on-site service (63.7% vs. 88.2%), and receiving telephone follow-up (62.4% vs. 77.6% ) in comparison to the rural residents (P < 0.05 for all).

  Conclusion  The awareness and utilization of contracted family doctor service are lower among urban residents than those among rural residents in Shandong province.