Fysioterapeuten (May 2020)
Prioritization of inquiries to physiotherapy in private practice. A text analysis
Abstract
Purpose: Prioritization guidelines are supposed to support the physiotherapists in prioritizing inquiries. NOU 2018:16 has given three national criteria for prioritization: severity, benefit and resource. The purpose of this study is to look into how the private physiotherapists evaluate the urgency of inquiries, whether the three criteria for prioritization are reflected in the physiotherapists` justifications of prioritization, and whether the local guidelines for prioritization are helpful for the physiotherapists. Design: The study has a qualitative approach. Material: 837 inquiries to physiotherapy in private practice in two municipalities. The physiotherapists gave each inquiry a priority from 1-4 using the local guidelines for prioritization. Method: The texts with the physiotherapists justifications of prioritization were analyzed using hermeneutic text analysis. The analyzed material was assessed against the local guidelines for prioritization and the national criteria for prioritization. Results: This paper presents three different results: The private physiotherapists prioritized in two different levels and not four, according to the local guidelines for prioritization. The local guidelines for prioritization are not distinct enough about how the national prioritization criteria should be used. Some priorities were not in line with national priorities. Conclusions: This study adds new knowledge about how private physiotherapists prioritize. The local guidelines for prioritization should be reevaluated to reflect the national criteria for prioritization.
