Is prevention unbalancing general practice?

Australia has begun to encourage and financially reward general practitioners for implementing preventive activities. While an expanding preventive agenda for general practice remains attractive, there is a real potential for opportunity costs, especially in the absence of realistic practice-based support for preventive care. These costs may include a shift from the needs of individual patients to those of the community. It is crucial not to neglect the concept of relationship-centred primary care (which may actually enhance preventive activities), as well as enhancing the preventive environment of the practice, when considering strategies to improve preventive uptake.