Investigation of the manageability of patients applying to the dermatology outpatient clinic in the primary care

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Dermatological diseases are among the commonly encountered health problems in the general population. Upon examination of the applications made to primary healthcare services, it is observed that a significant portion of the applications are related to dermatological diseases. Ensuring effective treatment for patients and treating them at the appropriate level will contribute to increasing the efficiency of healthcare services. In line with this objective, our study aims to determine the extent to which dermatology outpatient clinic referrals can be managed in primary healthcare services. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study is a single-center descriptive cross-sectional research conducted through face-to-face interviews using a 30-item questionnaire applied to patients aged 18 and over who applied to the Dermatology outpatient clinic of Sakarya Training and Research Hospital between October 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023. A total of 429 patients were included in the study. SPSS 22.0 software was used for the statistical analysis of the data. A significance level of p<0.05 was accepted. RESULTS: In our study, it was determined that 39.6% of the evaluated patients could have their diagnosis and treatment processes managed at the primary healthcare level, while 37.1% of the patients could not initiate treatment due to the non-coverage of diagnosis in primary healthcare services by insurance. There was a statistically significant relationship between the complaint duration, the need for laboratory testing, interventional procedure status, and management at the primary healthcare level (p<0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed between the marital status, familiarity with the family physician, and the institution where they initially applied for their complaints, as well as the institution where patients first applied for their complaints according to age (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: It was found that most of the diagnoses made for patients who applied to dermatology clinics can be managed in primary healthcare institutions. Implementing a referral system, making arrangements regarding insurance payments for medications prescribed by family physicians, improving the skills of family physicians, and increasing the awareness level of the community can enhance the effectiveness of primary healthcare practice. This way, the utilization of secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions can be aligned with their objectives.