Table 3 Summary of participating cases’ context factors (history and initial conditions and local fitness landscape)

GP 1: Urban general practice, set up and owned by principal GP. It evolved from an existing practice. Patient profile includes older regular patients and newer younger families who have moved into the area. The catchment and patient population includes a small proportion of indigenous and CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) people.

GPSC 2: Outer urban service under the federal government GPSC program. It is a newly established service on the grounds of a university. Many services linked with the LHN. The patient profile includes a mix of older regular patients, younger families, a significant university student population and a particular focus on people (including adolescents) with mental health conditions. The catchment and patient population includes a small proportion of indigenous and CALD people.

GPSC 3: A regional two-site service established under the federal government GPSC program. Site A is relatively new and the service bought the established general practice (site B). A few services are linked with the LHN. The patient profile includes younger people who commute to the city for work, AH walk in patients from out of area or other practices (site A), older regular patients and retirees (site B), and some indigenous and/or CALD people.

GPSC 4: A regional (urban) service established under the federal government GPSC program. It evolved from an established general practice. Many services are linked with the LHN. The patient profile includes regular patients, AH non-regular and patients who use only the visiting specialist services. The practice provides services to refugees from one particular ethnic group and to client groups that other practices in the area are reluctant to take on, such as alcohol and other drug users and residents in aged care facilities.

HealthOne (HO) 5: A rural practice under the state government HealthOne program. It evolved from an existing service. The patient profile includes older local residents and those living in outlying towns, as well as patients with chronic and complex conditions especially targeted by the service.

CHS 6: An urban practice, part of a recent merger of several community health services under the state government community health program. The patient profile includes predominantly people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, including a large CALD population. As there is a large refugee, asylum-seeker and recent migrant population, they provide a refugee health assessment service.