Table 1 Guidelines for FGD

Icebreaking

• Motivation and satisfaction about opening clinics

• Personal health condition and usage of clinics

The key components of primary care

• Do you think patients are more likely to contact secondary and tertiary hospitals than primary care?

• Do you have a favorite clinic to go to when you are sick or need medical consultation? If not, how do you feel?

• Do you think your clinic is ready to provide sufficient primary care?

• If you just found out that one of your family members has chronic disease, where would you take her/him to?

• How do you operate your medical consultation other than daily schedules? (e.g., consultation at nights, weekends, or holidays). If not, why?

• Do you think clinics in your neighborhood provide sufficient daily hours for medical services?

• Have you ever made a reservation for medical services at the clinics in your neighborhood?

• Have you ever had a medical consultation via phone call?

• Do you think your payment for the medical services in your neighborhood clinics is appropriate?

• Have you ever been denied by your neighborhood clinics?

• Have you ever referred your patients to secondary or tertiary hospitals? When? Why or why not? How?

• When you have health problems, do you have any issues when you decide the types of clinics you should go to? And departments of the clinics you should go to?

• Have you ever referred your patients to community healthcare centers, other healthcare providers, or other community-based organizations except the clinics?

• Have you ever asked for medical treatment requests to your neighborhood clinics?

• How well do you coordinate medical services for your patients?

• Have you ever been referred to other clinics or community health service providers/centers?

• What resources and actions do you need for improving the coordinating role of primary care?

• What are your ranges of treatments, diagnoses, and operations you provide to your patients?

• Have you ever received medical examination or cancer screening at your neighborhood clinics?

• How do you educate your patients in terms of their healthy life style such as: Do you know the range of medical services that the neighborhood clinic can provide you with? For example, ranges of treatments, diagnoses, and operation

• Have you ever participated in education for health behaviors at your neighborhood clinics? What are your thoughts on such education?

• How do you manage your patients with chronic diseases for regular checkup and treatments?

• When you have similar symptoms, do you visit the clinic that you usually use, or do you visit several clinics?

• Have you ever asked for medical records from your patients for appropriate medical treatments to understand their medical history and information for treatments?

• How do your neighborhood clinics know your medical history and medical information?

Primary care issues in current policy

• What do you think about

• What do you think about

○ Double count system for working on a closed Saturday

○ Health cooperative

○ Chronic disease management system

○ Family doctor registration program

○ Jointly run clinics

○ Chronic disease management system

○ Other strategies to improve primary care

○ Other strategies to improve the primary care