General practitioners and the Swiss invalidity insurance : opportunity for early initiation of medical appraisals to judge reintegration for their patients

General Practitioners (GP) feel responsible for the continuity of care of patients with chronic diseases. For such patients, the maintenance of the occupational status via reintegration measures may be important to avoid chronification and invalidity with severe socio-economic consequences. The Swiss social insurance system may fund such reintegration measures. Little is known, however, how early medical appraisals are initiated to judge eligibility. We aimed to assess the current time pattern for initiation of medical appraisals for the Swiss Invalidity Insurance as part of a larger survey