| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
Article |
1 Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
2 School of Public Health, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Jan M. De Maeseneer, MD Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care University of Ghent De Pintelaan 185 Ghent, B-9000 Belgium jan.demaeseneer{at}rug.ac.be
BACKGROUND International comparisons of health care systems have shown a relationship at the macro level between a well-structured primary health care plan and lower total health care costs. The objective of this study was to assess whether provider continuity with a family physician is related to lower health care costs using the individual patient as the unit of analysis.
METHODS We undertook a study of a stratified sample of patients (age, sex, region, insurance company) for which 2 cohorts were constructed based on the patients’ utilization pattern of family medicine (provider continuity or not). Patient utilization patterns were observed for 2 years. The setting was the Belgian health care system. The participants were 4,134 members of the 2 largest health insurance companies in 2 regions (Aalst and Liège). The main outcome measures were the total health care costs of patients with and without provider continuity with a family physician, controlling for variables known to influence health care utilization (need factors, predisposing factors, enabling factors).
RESULTS Bivariate analyses showed that patients who were visiting the same family physician had a lower total cost for medical care. A multivariate linear regression showed that provider continuity with a family physician was one of the most important explanatory variables related to the total health care cost.
CONCLUSIONS Provider continuity with a family physician is related to lower total health care costs. This finding brings evidence to the debate on the importance of structured primary health care (with high continuity for family practice) for a cost-effective health policy.
Key Words: Community health services • delivery of health care • health services research • provider continuity
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  W. Hogg, M. Rowan, G. Russell, R. Geneau, and L. Muldoon Framework for primary care organizations: the importance of a structural domain Int. J. Qual. Health Care, October 1, 2008; 20(5): 308 - 313. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. C. Rosenthal The Medical Home: Growing Evidence to Support a New Approach to Primary Care J Am Board Fam Med, September 1, 2008; 21(5): 427 - 440. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C.-J. Hsiao and C. Boult Effects of Quality on Outcomes in Primary Care: A Review of the Literature American Journal of Medical Quality, July 1, 2008; 23(4): 302 - 310. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M.-J. Sepulveda, T. Bodenheimer, and P. Grundy Primary Care: Can It Solve Employers' Health Care Dilemma? Health Aff., January 1, 2008; 27(1): 151 - 158. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Bodenheimer, R. A. Berenson, and P. Rudolf The Primary Care-Specialty Income Gap: Why It Matters Ann Intern Med, February 20, 2007; 146(4): 301 - 306. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. P. Schade and K. L. Hannah Impact of the 2004 Influenza Vaccine Shortage on Repeat Immunization Rates Ann. Fam. Med, November 1, 2006; 4(6): 541 - 547. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Schers, H. van den Hoogen, H. Bor, R. Grol, and W. van den Bosch Familiarity with a GP and patients' evaluations of care. A cross-sectional study Fam. Pract., February 1, 2005; 22(1): 15 - 19. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. C. Stange Continuity of Care: "It Is About Connecting" Ann. Fam. Med, November 1, 2003; 1(4): 242 - 243. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. C. Stange In this Issue: Continuity of Care Ann. Fam. Med, September 1, 2003; 1(3): 130 - 131. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
Read all TRACK Comments
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
