Background

In the Republic of Korea, the policy for segregation of prescription and dispensing medicine started in July, 2000. This study aimed to know the change of role of office-based family physicians after the policy implementation.

Methods
We chose 560 office-based family physicians who had private clinics from the mailing list of the Korean Association of Family Physicians. We mailed a questionnaire to them and received 215 responses.

Results
Overall response rate was 38.4%. The mean age of the study population was 40.9 years. There was no change in the number of employees before and after the policy implementation. The respondents who expected that their income would increase were more than those who expected that their income would decrease. The duration of medication and the proportion of original drugs used increased, but the prescription rate of injections, antibiotics, and digestives decreased. The respondents requested the Korean Academy of Family Medicine to promote strong political activities to improve the status of the office-based family physicians, and to develop reimbursement items and clinical guidelines.

Conclusion
The perceived change of office-based family physicians was minimal after implementation of the policy for segregation of prescription and dispensing medicine.