How Should Supporting Services for Primary Care Professionnals Be Organised?

Supporting services are defined as all activities that are necessary for organising care pathways for patients with complex needs, which cannot be undertaken directly by primary care professionals. Organising supporting services is the responsibility of Regional Health Agencies (ARS), and this should be done with the involvement of professionals and users.

Key points

Five conditions must be met:

• there is a drive towards integrating services locally, with shared tools for referring and assessing people;
• the supporting services are based near primary care doctors and teams;
• patients who may benefit are targeted appropriately;
• transitional arrangements for patients going home from hospital, an intervention with a high level of evidence for use of care, are supported;
• tools, knowledge and expertise are passed on to healthcare professionals. This document discusses the nature of supporting services and their success factors, including in terms of how they are organised. It does not cover the regulatory aspects of organising these services.