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Research ArticleOriginal Research

Higher Primary Care Physician Continuity is Associated With Lower Costs and Hospitalizations

Andrew Bazemore, Stephen Petterson, Lars E. Peterson, Richard Bruno, Yoonkyung Chung and Robert L. Phillips
The Annals of Family Medicine November 2018, 16 (6) 492-497; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2308
Andrew Bazemore
1Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies, Washington, DC
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  • For correspondence: abazemore@aafp.org
Stephen Petterson
1Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies, Washington, DC
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Lars E. Peterson
2American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky
3Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
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Richard Bruno
4Baltimore Medical System, Baltimore, Maryland
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Yoonkyung Chung
1Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies, Washington, DC
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Robert L. Phillips Jr
2American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky
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  • Physician-level vs patient-level continuity and hospitalisation
    Peter Tammes
    Published on: 11 April 2019
  • More Quality Required from Outcome Studies
    Robert C. Bowman, M.D.
    Published on: 19 November 2018
  • Inadequate analysis
    John E Sattenspiel
    Published on: 14 November 2018
  • Published on: (11 April 2019)
    Page navigation anchor for Physician-level vs patient-level continuity and hospitalisation
    Physician-level vs patient-level continuity and hospitalisation
    • Peter Tammes, Senior Research Associate
    • Other Contributors:

    Continuity of primary care is valued by a wide variety of patients and associated with a range of benefits for patients and the wider health system.(1) Recent studies in the UK focused on patient-level continuity of care showing poorer continuity was associated with an increased risk of unplanned hospitalisation.(2)(3) It is useful to explore continuity of care further such as by focusing at the provider-level continuity...

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    Continuity of primary care is valued by a wide variety of patients and associated with a range of benefits for patients and the wider health system.(1) Recent studies in the UK focused on patient-level continuity of care showing poorer continuity was associated with an increased risk of unplanned hospitalisation.(2)(3) It is useful to explore continuity of care further such as by focusing at the provider-level continuity as done by Bazemore et al. using data from Medicare claims.(4) They reported similar findings: lower provider continuity increased risk of hospitalisation.

    In their study, beneficiaries were assigned to a single primary care physician who provided the most outpatient primary care visits to that beneficiary. While this seems an appropriate decision, one could argue that an appointed index-physician might have been a more suitable measure to determine provider-level continuity. The authors instead focused on the Bice and Boxerman index-score. Alternative measures, such as the usual provider continuity index, showed similar results, reaffirming the results reported.

    The provider-level continuity is an aggregation of patient-level continuity scores and given the ecological nature of this measurement one cannot infer associations for individual patients, that is a patient assigned to a provider with a high continuity score does not have to have a high patient-level continuity score him/herself or a reduced risk of unplanned hospitalisation. We support Bazemore et al. in their call to include continuity of care as a quality measure to be used in the Quality Payment Program (QPR). This fits our call for further policy initiatives to promote continuity of care(5), though, given the ecological nature of the suggested provider-level continuity a better potential quality measure mighty be the patient-level continuity.

    1. Palmer W, Hemmings N, Rosen R, et al. Improving access and continuity in general practice: practical and policy lessons. Research summary. London: Nuffield Trust, 2018.
    2. Tammes P, Purdy S, Salisbury C, et al. Continuity of primary care and emergency hospital admissions among older patients in England. The Annals of Family Medicine 2017;15(6):515-22.
    3. Barker I, Steventon A, Deeny S. Continuity of care in general practice is associated with fewer hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions: a cross-sectional study of routinely collected, person-level data. BMJ 2017
    4. Bazemore A, Petterson S, Peterson LE, et al. Higher Primary Care Physician Continuity is Associated With Lower Costs and Hospitalizations. The Annals of Family Medicine 2018;16(6):492-97.
    5. Tammes P, Salisbury C. Continuity of primary care matters and should be protected. BMJ 2017;356:j373. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j373

    Competing interests: None declared

    Show Less
    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (19 November 2018)
    Page navigation anchor for More Quality Required from Outcome Studies
    More Quality Required from Outcome Studies
    • Robert C. Bowman, M.D., Physician

    I agree with the comments regarding inadequate analysis. Controls remain too few. Much data is missing. The data that exists is skewed because of poor access to generalist and general specialty physicians that impacts major portions of the US population and as much as half of the Medicare and Medicaid population. These populations continued to be ignored in data, analysis, and awareness. These are populations that have h...

    Show More

    I agree with the comments regarding inadequate analysis. Controls remain too few. Much data is missing. The data that exists is skewed because of poor access to generalist and general specialty physicians that impacts major portions of the US population and as much as half of the Medicare and Medicaid population. These populations continued to be ignored in data, analysis, and awareness. These are populations that have half enough workforce in the basic areas with even less in more specialized care. Also this population has the worst outcomes across infant mortality, maternal mortality, premature death, and longevity. Even within this population there are some that can gain access and the potential for continuity, and others that cannot.

    Quality studies rarely meet the test of comparing same or similar populations. Purported differences as measured in studies are difficult to separate from a comparison of two different populations with two different outcomes. Routine data sets are incapable of such analysis. Social determinants, situations, environments, and conditions remain missing in consideration. Selection bias alone is a huge issue for continuity.

    For 2621 counties lowest in MD DO NP and PA concentrations with half enough primary care there are higher concentrations of obesity, diabetes, veterans, elderly, poor, COPD, disability, and mental issues. The worst public and private plans are concentrated and practices face the most disruptions, the lowest payments, and the lowest collection rates.

    Housing collapse in the few counties with higher to highest concentrations of workforce helps to drive more rapid population growth where deficits exist and where the population has been growing fastest decade after decade since the 1960s. The continued financial compromise of smaller and less organized providers continues to worsen disparities in access and in social determinants - to drive worsening outcomes. Each passing year the various innovations (HITECH to MACRA to PCMH) steal 1 billion more dollars from primary care in counties that only had about 38 billion in 2010.

    At least Starfield acknowledged the role of factors related to social and other determinants of health. The families of family medicine continue to repeat the primary care correlation mantras as if more primary care is a solution. But the reality is different because of the disparities that exist and worsen. Outcomes differences are about disparities in people, not primary care.

    The real answer to various measures and outcomes involves addressing disparities. Continuing to promote correlation as if it were causation will only delay the necessary improvements in the population with the powerless half growing larger and with worsening outcomes. We should be advocates of our patients, populations, and communities - not ourselves or what we assume will work.

    The shortages that contribute to continuity woes are about the places where the populations with the worst public and private insurance plans are concentrated. They had no greater deficits of insurance in 2010 with 40.6% of the uninsured in this 40.2% of the population. They just had the worst plans. These counties only averaged 46 primary care physicians per 100,000. About 25% of generalists and general specialists for vast regions with 40% of the population is insufficient.

    Instead of being distracted by quality studies and improvements, primary care researchers would do well to study the usual disruptions that impact small and medium practices most (Mold, Annals FM) and the disruptions arising from past, present, and future innovations. They might discover the financial design as the problem as revenue remains flat, costs of delivery accelerate, and the complexities of practice and of population worsen.

    Competing interests: None declared

    Show Less
    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (14 November 2018)
    Page navigation anchor for Inadequate analysis
    Inadequate analysis
    • John E Sattenspiel, retired

    This article purports to support the thesis that increased continuity of primary care leads to lower medical costs. Unfortunately the analysis is flawed and the correlations reported in no way establish such causation. In my long career as a practicing Family Physician I was well aware that as my patients' health deteriorated and they required increasing levels of specialty care, my contacts with them, continuity as defi...

    Show More

    This article purports to support the thesis that increased continuity of primary care leads to lower medical costs. Unfortunately the analysis is flawed and the correlations reported in no way establish such causation. In my long career as a practicing Family Physician I was well aware that as my patients' health deteriorated and they required increasing levels of specialty care, my contacts with them, continuity as defined for this study, generally diminished. This was multifactorial in etiology and in many cases reflected legitimate responses necessary for them to obtain the best quality care. Was the increased cost, and complexity, of their care due to lack of contact with my practice or vice versa? The valid conclusion from this study could just as well be stated that as patients become sicker and more costly, they necessarily lose continuity of care with primary care. The data, as analyzed, appears to support each conclusion equally.

    This study would have benefited if the number of specialty contacts vs cost and continuity had also been analyzed for evidence of an effect on cost that could be extracted in a manner which allows assessment of the magnitude of benefit specifically attributable to primary care continuity rather than burden of disease and engagement with the specialist medical community.

    I would be very careful regarding these results. Touting such obviously flawed and likely biased result is not in Family Medicine's best interest.

    Competing interests: none

    Show Less
    Competing Interests: None declared.
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The Annals of Family Medicine: 16 (6)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 16 (6)
Vol. 16, Issue 6
November/December 2018
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Higher Primary Care Physician Continuity is Associated With Lower Costs and Hospitalizations
Andrew Bazemore, Stephen Petterson, Lars E. Peterson, Richard Bruno, Yoonkyung Chung, Robert L. Phillips
The Annals of Family Medicine Nov 2018, 16 (6) 492-497; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2308

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Higher Primary Care Physician Continuity is Associated With Lower Costs and Hospitalizations
Andrew Bazemore, Stephen Petterson, Lars E. Peterson, Richard Bruno, Yoonkyung Chung, Robert L. Phillips
The Annals of Family Medicine Nov 2018, 16 (6) 492-497; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2308
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  • Exploring the therapeutic alliance in Belgian family medicine and its association with doctor-patient characteristics: a cross-sectional survey study
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More in this TOC Section

  • Investigating Patient Experience, Satisfaction, and Trust in an Integrated Virtual Care (IVC) Model: A Cross-Sectional Survey
  • Patient and Health Care Professional Perspectives on Stigma in Integrated Behavioral Health: Barriers and Recommendations
  • Evaluation of the Oral Health Knowledge Network’s Impact on Pediatric Clinicians and Patient Care
Show more Original Research

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Subjects

  • Person groups:
    • Vulnerable populations
  • Methods:
    • Quantitative methods
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  • Core values of primary care:
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