Mismatch between registration possibilities and patients’ local health needs, a simulated patient survey in the Paris metropolitan area

TL;DR

This study found that GPs in less deprived areas are more likely to accept new patients, highlighting a mismatch between healthcare needs and availability in disadvantaged regions.

Contribution

The study uses a simulated patient survey to reveal how GP characteristics and location influence new patient registration in the Paris metropolitan area.

Findings

Male GPs in solo practices without a secretary or alternative medicine were more likely to accept new patients.

GPs in less deprived areas with fewer chronic disease patients were more open to new registrations.

Primary care supply characteristics did not influence willingness to register new patients.

Abstract

We studied the association between GPs’ characteristics and the places they practise, in terms of the supply and demand for primary care and of the registration of new patients for ongoing care at the office or for house calls.

An exhaustive simulated patient survey enabled us to determine the GPs practising in the Paris metropolitan region who were accepting new patients for registration for continuing care at their office and/or for house calls.

We studied the associations between the characteristics of GPs who were accepting new patient registrations and those describing their office location.

In 2017–2018, we contacted 8171 physicians (87.6% of the GPs in the region), 49.70% were willing to register a new patient for office visits and 18.7% for house calls. In both situations (office and visit), doctors who most frequently agreed to register new patients were men in solo practices, who had no secretary and did not practise alternative medicine. GPs in areas with low levels of deprivation and relatively few individuals with costly chronic diseases agreed more frequently than those elsewhere to register new patients. No characteristic describing the supply of primary care was associated with agreement to register new patients.

The difficulties of finding a GP in the most deprived areas and with the most people with chronic diseases suggest the need to develop policies facilitating the settlement of new doctors in such areas.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12960-025-01020-4.

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