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The following is a summary of “Benchmarks for low back pain in general practice in Flanders: electronic audit of INTEGO,” published in the December 2024 issue of Primary Care by Paridaens et al.
Low back pain (LBP) is common for general practice visits, but adherence to clinical guidelines remains low. Benchmarking, as part of audit and feedback, can improve guideline adherence.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to create data-driven benchmarks for quality indicators in low back pain care.
They selected 4 quality indicators from an existing set developed by the center for evidence-based medicine (CEBAM). Data from 2021-2022 from INTEGO, a general practice morbidity registry, were used to calculate benchmarks. The Achievable Benchmark of Care methodology was applied, using the performance of the top 10% best-performing practices to create the benchmarks.
The results showed 4.2% prescription for medical imaging, 12.7% for opioids, 27.2% for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or acetaminophen, 37.7% for physical therapy, and 11.9% for work absenteeism.
They established benchmarks for 4 quality indicators, applicable in audit tools for primary practice in Flanders or other improvement efforts.
Source: bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-024-02644-6
