BACKGROUND In an effort to learn more about the importance of continuity of care to physicians and patients, I reviewed the medical literature on continuity of care to define interpersonal continuity and describe how it has been measured and studied

METHODS A search of the MEDLINE database from 1966 through April 2002 was conducted to find articles focusing on the keyword “continuity of patient care,” including all subheadings Titles and abstracts of the resulting articles were screened to select articles focusing on interpersonal continuity in the physician-patient relationship or on the definition of continuity of care These articles were systematically reviewed and analyzed for study method, measurement technique, and research theme

RESULTS A total of 379 original articles were found that addressed any aspect of continuity as an attribute of general medical care One hundred forty-two articles directly related to the definition of continuity or to the concept of interpersonal continuity in the physician-patient relationship Although the available literature reflects little agreement on how to define continuity of care, it is best defined as a hierarchy of 3 dimensions; informational, longitudinal, and interpersonal continuity Interpersonal continuity is of particular interest for primary care Twenty-one measurement techniques have been defined to study continuity, many of which relate to visit patterns and concentration rather than the interpersonal nature of the continuity relationship

CONCLUSIONS Future inquiry in family medicine should focus on better understanding the interpersonal dimension of continuity of care

https://www.annfammed.org/content/annalsfm/1/3/134.full.pdf

Defining and Measuring Interpersonal Continuity of Care

P6 an outpatient repeatedly sees the same practitioner, is his care influenced? This double-blind randomized trial examines the effects of outpatient health care provider continuity on the process and outcome of the medical care for 776 men aged 55 years and older. Participants were randomized to two different groups of provider care: provider discontinuity and provider continuity. The outcome of the continuity group was significantly different from that of the discontinuity group. During an 18-month period, patients who had been randomized to the continuity group had fewer emergent admissions (20% v 39%) and a shorter average length of stay (15.5 v 25.5 days). These patients also perceived that the providers were more knowledgeable, thorough, and interested in patient education. We conclude that continuity of outpatient provider care for men aged 55 years and older results in more patient satisfaction, shorter hospitalizations, and fewer emergent hospital admissions.

Continuity of Outpatient Medical Care in Elderly Men: A Randomized Trial

Background Advanced (“open”) access scheduling, which promotes patient-driven scheduling in lieu of prearranged appointments, has been proposed as a more patient-centered appointment method and has been widely adopted throughout the United Kingdom, within the US Veterans Health Administration, and among US private practices. Objective To describe patient and physician and/or practice outcomes resulting from implementation of advanced access scheduling in the primary care setting. Data Sources Comprehensive search of electronic databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science) through August, 2010, supplemented by reference lists and gray literature. Study Selection Studies were assessed in duplicate, and reviewers were blinded to author, journal, and date of publication. Controlled and uncontrolled English-language studies of advanced access implementation in primary care were eligible if they specified methods and reported outcomes data. Data Extraction Two reviewers collaboratively assessed risk for bias by using the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group Risk of Bias criteria. Data were independently extracted in duplicate. Data Synthesis Twenty-eight articles describing 24 studies met eligibility criteria. All studies had at least 1 source of potential bias. All 8 studies evaluating time to third-next-available appointment showed reductions (range of decrease, 1.1-32 days), but only 2 achieved a third-next-available appointment in less than 48 hours (25%). No-show rates improved only in practices with baseline no-show rates higher than 15%. Effects on patient satisfaction were variable. Limited data addressed clinical outcomes and loss to follow-up. Conclusions Studies of advanced access support benefits to wait time and no-show rate. However, effects on patient satisfaction were mixed, and data about clinical outcomes and loss to follow-up were lacking.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/articlepdf/1105829/ira15004_1150_1159.pdf

Advanced Access Scheduling Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Continuity of relationship between physician and patient is a fundamental aspect of the health care provided by family physicians. Measurement of continuity has proved difficult, however. Commonly applied measures, usual provider of care (UPC), continuity of care (COC), and the modified continuity index (MCI), either ignore key aspects of continuity or provide misleading results. Consequently, a new measure of continuity, the modified, modified continuity index (MMCI), with a possible range of 0 to 1, was developed to overcome these problems. It was applied to a residency model practice, in which mean MMCI was found to be 0.59 (range 0.3 to 1.0). Mean COC was .41 and a mean MCI was .44. Thus, unlike COC and MCI, MMCI suggests fairly good continuity of care in this practice while still implying possible improvement. The MMCI should be useful for enhancing training and practice of family medicine.

A new method for measuring continuity of care in family practice residencies.

Reclosure of the disrupted laparotomy wound: a systematic review.

While the significance of continuity of care in medical practice has not yet been completely assessed, this concept has been espoused by the new specialty of family practice along with some other specialties. It is an integral component in family practice residency programs. The purpose of this paper is to identify several methods of measuring continuity of care in a residency setting and to demonstrate their application. Measurements called COC (Continuity of Care) and UPC (Usual Provider Continuity) will be described as they apply to overall patient visits, visits for chronic conditions, and visits by family members.

Measuring continuity of care in a family practice residency program.

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

R C Patten

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Measuring continuity of care in a family practice residency program.