Seven new family doctor co-operatives are to be established in Wicklow, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire, according to the Eastern Regional Health Authority.
They will be similar to three existing GP co-operatives in Kildare and Dublin which have received high satisfaction ratings from patients.
All offer out-of-hours consultations by appointment.
K Doc consists of 66 GPs in Kildare and west Wicklow. It has been in operation since March of last year.
According to the annual report of the ERHA, it received over 12,000 calls in its first six months.
A patient survey found a 95 per cent satisfaction rating.
It offers consultations to patients for 24 hours a day. Just under half of the co-operative's patients go to a "call centre" to be treated, while 28 per cent receive a home visit and 27 per cent are given advice over the phone.
Dub-Doc operates from rooms in St James's Hospital. It comprises GPs in south inner Dublin city.
Patients can make appointments to see a rostered doctor in the premises in the evenings and at weekends.
The appointment system enables patients to avoid the notoriously long queues in the hospital's casualty department.
East-Doc, located in the grounds of St Vincent's University Hospital, provides a similar service to patients in the south-east area of the city.
The new co-ops will be located in Balbriggan, Wicklow-Carnew, Finglas, Blanchardstown, north inner Dublin city, south-west Dublin and Dun Laoghaire.
Tuberculosis "continues to be a problem in the region, with 186 cases notified in 2001, which is an increase of 43 on the previous year," the report says.
"An outbreak of TB also occurred in a drug treatment centre during 2001, which involved extensive contact tracing and follow-up in this vulnerable population."
Fifty-three anthrax hoaxes were managed in the region last year following the bio-terrorism threat in October.
"This presented a challenge to all the services involved and in particular to the health services," the report says.