The Article in Brief

Background: Although patients often want an ongoing relationship with a medical professional (referred to as personal continuity of care), changes in health care policies and the way that health care is organized have made it more difficult to maintain such relationships. This study surveyed 1,523 general practitioners and family physicians in England and Wales, the Netherlands, and the United States on their views of continuity of care.
What This Study Found: Doctors in all 4 countries feel strongly that personal continuity of care (the ongoing relationship between a patient and a medical professional) is an important part of good quality care. Most doctors surveyed think that personal continuity cannot be replaced by continuity in other areas, such as medical information or management of a patient’s medical condition.
Implications:
• Even in very different health care systems, with different patient expectations and cultural influences, doctors place a high value on maintaining the patient-physician relationship through personal continuity.
• The importance of personal continuity to patients and doctors should be taken into account by policy makers.