Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Tousignant, Pierre, MD, MSc
• Diop, Mamadou, BSc
• Fournier, Michel, MSc
• Roy, Yves, BSc
• Haggerty, Jeannie, PhD
• Hogg, William, MSc, MClSc, MD
• Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique, MD, MSc

Titel

Validation of 2 New Measures of Continuity of Care Based on Year-to-Year Follow-up With Known Providers of Health Care

Ist Teil von

• Annals of family medicine, 2014-11, Vol.12 (6), p.559-567

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Academy of Family Physicians

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Abstract Purpose In a primary care context favoring group practices, we assessed the validity of 2 new continuity measures (both versions of known provider continuity, KPC) that capture the concentration of care over time from multiple physicians (multiple provider continuity, KPC-MP) or from the physician seen most often (personal provider continuity, KPC-PP). Methods Patients with diabetes or cardiovascular disease (N = 765) were approached in the waiting rooms of 28 primary care clinics in 3 regions of the province of Quebec, Canada; answered a survey questionnaire measuring relational continuity, interpersonal communication, coordination within the clinic, coordination with specialists, and overall coordination; and gave permission for their medical records to be reviewed and their medical services utilization data for the previous 2 years to be accessed to measure KPC. Using generalized linear mixed models, we assessed the association between KPC and the patients' responses. Results Among the 5 different patient-reported measures or their combination, KPC-MP was significantly related with overall coordination of care: for high continuity, the odds ratio (OR) = 2.02 (95% CI, 1.33–3.07), and for moderate continuity, OR = 1.61 (95% CI, 1.06–2.46). KPC-MP was also related with the combined continuity score: for high continuity, OR = 1.52 (95% CI, 1.11–2.09), and for moderate continuity, OR = 1.48 (95% CI, 1.10–2.00). KPC-PP was not significantly associated with any of the survey measures. Conclusions The KPC-MP measure, based on readily available administrative data, is associated with patient-perceived overall coordination of care among multiple physicians. KPC measures are potentially a valuable and low-cost way to follow the effects of changes favoring group practice on continuity of care for entire populations. They are easy to replicate over time and across jurisdictions.