Boundaries of professional responsibility of a general practitioner (family physician): rationale and study design

This paper rationales a planned study, the purpose of which is to define the boundaries of professional responsibility of general practitioners (family physicians), as well as to develop algorithms for in ter action between general practitioners (family physicians) and specialist physicians based on expert assessments to improve patient routing in primary care. The study has multicenter, cross- sectional de sign. The methodological basis was current regulatory documents governing professional activity and the list of diseases falling within the professional responsibility of general practitioners (family physicians), as well as expert assessments. Fifty specialists from 13 Russian regions will serve as experts as follows: faculty members from Russian universities training general practitioners (family doctors), district general practitioners (family doctors) of the Moscow Department of Health, chief freelance general practitioners (family doctors) of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation and other federal districts, as well as physicians with at least 10 years of related experience. The study is structured around 14 independent sub-studies, corresponding to the medical specialties within which the general practitioners (family doctors) practice. Expert assessment cards for work functions were specially developed for each sub-study. A total of 252 diseases are planned to be analyzed. The study will in clude four phases, the last of which is scheduled to be completed in October 2026.