THE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION BY DANISH PRACTITIONERS

Danish general practice consists of small independent units with a limited tradition of for example benchmarking and organizational cooperation. This has among other things led to high pricing of products demanded by general practice, with large profits. At the same time the task burden on general practitioners has increased and more tasks must be solved within the same economic framework. This puts Danish general practice under pressure. We describe an initiative rooted in the Danish cooperative movement which on several levels saves resources for Danish general practice. We have established a cooperative - voresklinik.info (VKI) - where the joining practices will be cooperative members and thus co-owners of the association. The association endeavors to support the resources available in general practice in several ways: • By focusing on the best economic agreements on procurement, and thus lower the costs of general practice • By saving and streamlining human resources for each clinic through an IT platform that can be the axis of rotation for the performance, planning and development of the daily business operation • Through education and information, to contribute to a greater focus on the management and organization in Danish general practice • In the long term to try to contribute to a situation where general practice can retain its independence in smaller units, by strengthening the sector through increased focus on networking, so that the smaller units can benefit from large-scale operational advantages where appropriate.