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The following is a summary of “How Austrian primary care physicians evaluated their available resources and quality of care during the first year of COVID-19: a repeated cross-sectional survey study,” published in the April 2025 issue of BMC Primary Care by Braun et al. 

In March 2020, Austria implemented a national lockdown and strict ringfencing policy for inpatient beds in response to SARS-CoV-2. These measures significantly impacted access to the healthcare system. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to explore demand- and supply-side factors affecting Austrian Primary Care Physicians’ (PCPs’) quality assessments during the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

They deployed a cross-sectional design using stratified random sampling, with all 6,679 Austrian PCPs (2020) invited to participate in an online questionnaire in May, September, and November 2020. A multinomial logit model was used to analyze the data, with a total sample size of 403, corresponding to a net response rate of 6.3%. 

The results showed that the primary outcome was PCPs’ evaluation of care quality. Secondary outcomes included “patient behavior and wellbeing” (5 questions, Cronbach’s alpha 0.74) and “pandemic preparedness” (5 questions, Cronbach’s alpha 0.69). About 47% of PCPs rated their care quality as worse than before COVID-19. The assessment correlated with the pandemic stage, lack of preventive care, and poor information exchange/cooperation. By the end of the first lockdown, care quality perception was shaped solely by the availability of SARS-CoV-2 tests at the practice. 

Investigators found that PCP quality assessments changed over time, initially driven by supply-side factors and later by demand-side factors. The strong silo mentality and separation between care sectors significantly impacted PCPs’ quality assessments. 

Source: bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-025-02788-z