Although the reasons why the number of GPs per population should be related to lower in-hospital mortality are unexplained and may be due to confounding factors (such as severity of illness), this British study suggests that at least some aspects of primary care practice may be related to important outcomes of hospitalization.

Source: Jarman B, Gault S, Alves B, Hider A, Dolan S, Cook A, et al. Explaining differences in English hospital death rates using routinely collected data. BMJ 1999; 318(7197):1515-1520.