This newly developed tool can be used to monitor quality performance of nurse practitioners and to plan quality improvement actions in nurse practitioners' performance in primary care settings.

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Objectives: To determine the views of Slovenian family physicians on medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and learn more about potential types of treatment for such patients. Methods: Five focus groups, comprising 24 family medicine physicians (FMPs) from two Slovenian University centres, were convened. Conversations were led towards the research objectives by professionally trained researchers and followed a preliminarily established protocol. Qualitative content analysis of audio and transcripts of the discussions was performed using ATLAS.ti software to establish categories ('codes') relevant to issues regarding MUS. Results: Slovenian FMPs emphasized the importance of good communication and trust between physicians and patients with MUS. Systemic barriers to effective management of MUS arising from the Slovenian health system were highlighted. FMPs stressed the need for more education in the recognition and treatment of MUS in primary care. From the discussions, 64 codes comprising broader research fields of MUS were developed, then grouped into a further eight categories: communication; doctor-patient relationship; causes of MUS; patient characteristics; physician characteristics; courses of action so far; positive relationship with patients; proposals for treatment. Conclusions:The results are valuable in terms of investigating the treatment of patients with MUS in Slovenia, thereby opening new avenues of research on the subject of MUS.

FDs evaluate PSRs mainly by their managerial skills and trustworthiness. The scale proved to be a reliable tool for assessing PSRs by FDs.

AimThis study aimed to evaluate a new project of the Slovene Ministry of Health – the Family Medicine Model Practices (MPs) Project in Slovenia, and to show its effectiveness in the management of asthma and COPD by family medicine practice teams, consisting of a family physician, a nurse practitioner and a practice nurse.MethodsA total of 107 family practices with 203122 patients joined the project during the first year of its initiation. The effectiveness of the program in disease management was analysed in two phases according to the registration of family practices. The number of patients registered and the number of asthma and COPD patients (existing and newly detected) by model practice teams were being reported. Descriptive analyses were used to describe the study populations. Prevalence by diseases and phases was established after the initial round of data collection. Chi square (χ2) test was used to analyse the difference between the phases.ResultsThe frequency of asthma was 2.12%, while the frequency of COPD was 1.15% throughout the study period. For both diseases, more than 30% of patients were newly diagnosed.ConclusionsThe project of implementing Family Medicine MPs in the area of COPD has given first positive results and the project is still ongoing to its full implementation.