Article Figures & Data
Tables
Study Interpersonal Continuity Defined and Measured in Credible Way Study Design Appropriate to Study Question Outcome Studied Applicable to FP Practices Outcome Measured in Credible Way Findings Generalizable to Other Settings Overall Quality of Evidence Note: Scores are the average of independent reviews by 2 authors. FP = family physician; 2 = yes;1 = somewhat; 0 = no. * Cells where authors scores differed by more than 1 point requiring a repeat evaluation and discussion. Charney et al,196721 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 9 Alpert et al, 196822 0 2 2 2 1.5 7.5 Alpert et al,197023 0 2 1.5 0.5 1 5 Gordis & Markowitz, 197124 0.5 2 2 1.5 1 7 Gordis, 197325 0 1.5 1 1 1 4.5 Becker et al,197426,27 0.5 2 1 1* 1.5 6 Starfield et al,197628 1 0.5 1 0 0.5 3 Alpert et al,197629 0 2 2 1 1.5 6.5 Roos et al,198030 2 0.5 1 0.5 0 4 Ettlinger & Freeman,198131 1.5 1.5 2 1.5 2 8.5 Shear et al, 198332 1.5 0* 2 1* 0.5 5 Wasson et al, 198433 2 2 2 2 1 9 Phillips & Shear, 198434 1* 1 2 1.5 1 6.5 Flynn, 198535 2 1 2 1 0.5 6.5 Susman et al, 198936 1 1.5 2 1.5 1* 7 Hjortdahl, 199237 2 1 1.5 1* 1 6.5 Freeman & Richards, 199438 2 0.5 1 0 1 4.5 Petersen et al, 199439 1* 1 1 1 0.5 4.5 Rowley et al, 199540 0 1* 1.5 1.5 0 4 Smith,199541 0 1 1 1 0 3 Sweeney & Gray, 199542 1.5 0.5 2 0.5 2* 6.5 Ettner, 199643 0.5 1.5 2 2 1 7 Lambrew et al, 199644 1.5 1.5 2 1.5 2 8.5 Weiss & Bluestein, 199645 2 2 2 1.5 2 9.5 Flocke et al, 19976 1.5 1 2 1.5 2 8 O’Malley et al, 199746 1 1.5 2 2 1.5 8 Gill & Mainous, 199847 1.5 2 2 2 1 8.5 Mainous & Gill, 199848 2 2 2 2 1 9 O’Connor et al, 199849 1 2 2 2 1.5 8.5 Ettner, 199950 1 1.5 2 1.5 1 7 Howie et al, 199951 1 1 1 0.5 1 4.5 Christakis et al, 200052 2 2 2 1.5 1.5 9 Christakis et al, 200153 2 2 2 2 1 9 Boss & Timbrook, 200154 2 2* 2 2 1* 9 Gallagher et al, 200155 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 1 5.5 Hanninen et al, 200156 1 2 2 2 1.5 8.5 Mainous et al, 200157 2 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 7.5 Overland et al, 200158 2 1.5 2 2 1 8.5 Sturmberg & Schattner, 200159 2 2 1.5 1.5 1.5 8.5 Gill et al, 200260 1 2 2 2 1.5 8.5 Study Interpersonal Continuity Defined and Measured in Credible Way Study Design Appropriate to Study Question Cost Outcome Measured Applicable to FP Practice Cost Measured in Appropriate Manner Outcome Studied Applicable to FP Practices Overall Quality of Evidence Note: Scores are the average of independent reviews by 2 authors. FP = family physician; 2 = yes; 1 = somewhat; 0 = no. * Cells where authors scores differed by more than 1 point requiring a repeat evaluation and discussion. Alpert, 196461 0.5 1 2 1.5 1.5 6.5 Alpert et al, 196822 & 197629 0 1.5 2 2 1.5 7 Heagarty et al, 197062 0 1.5 2 2 1.5 7 Becker et al, 197426,27 0.5 2 1.5 0.5 1 5.5 Hennelly & Boxerman, 197963 1* 0.5 1.5 1.5 1* 5.5 Phillips & Shear, 198434 1* 1 1 0.5 0.5 4 Wasson et al, 198433 2 2 2 2 1 9 Hjortdahl & Borchgrevink, 199164 0.5 1 1.5 1 1 5 Smith, 199541 Sweeney & Gray, 199542 0.5 0 1.5 0.5 0 2.5 Rowley et al, 199540 0 1* 1 1 0.5 3.5 Weiss & Bluestein, 199645 2 2 1.5 2 2 9.5 Cornelius, 199765 1.5 2 2 2 1.5 9 Gill & Mainous, 199847 1.5 1.5 2 1.5 1 7.5 Mainous & Gill, 199848 2 1.5 2 1.5 1 8 Raddish et al, 199966 1 1 2 1.5 1.5 7 Christakis et al, 199967 2 2 2 1.5 1.5 9 Gill et al, 200068 2 1.5 2 2 1 8.5 Meredith et al, 200169 1.5 1.5 1 0.5 0.5 5 Christakis et al, 200153 2 2 2 2 1.5 9.5
Additional Files
Supplemental Tables
Supplemental Table 1. Summary of studies examining interpersonal continuity and care outcome; Supplemental Table 2. Summary of studies examining interpersonal continuity and care outcome by outcome; Supplemental Table 3. Summary of studies examining interpersonal continuity and cost.
Files in this Data Supplement:
- Supplemental data: Table 1 - PDF file, 7 pages, 148 KB
- Supplemental data: Table 2 - PDF file, 8 pages, 186 KB
- Supplemental data: Table 3 - PDF file, 5 pages, 117 KB
The Article in Brief
Continuity of care�the ongoing relationship between an individual doctor and patient�is a core principle: of family medicine. A review of 41 existing research studies found that continuity of care is associated with improved preventive care and lower rates of hospitalization. A review of 20 studies found an association between interpersonal continuity and lower medical costs.
Jump to section
Related Articles
Cited By...
- Are there opportunities to improve care as patients transition through the cancer care continuum? A scoping review
- Enabling patient-physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational study
- Managing patients with eating disorders: a qualitative study in primary care
- The Wall of Evidence for Continuity of Care: How Many More Bricks Do We Need?
- Physician continuity of care in the last year of life in community-dwelling adults: retrospective population-based study
- Continuity and breaches in GP care and their associations with mortality for patients with chronic disease: an observational study using Norwegian registry data
- Physician-Level Continuity of Care and Patient Outcomes in All-Payer Claims Database
- Continuity of care and consultation mode in general practice: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study using patient-level and practice-level data from before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in England
- General practitioners ending their practice and impact on patients health, healthcare use and mortality: a protocol for national registry cohort studies in Norway, 2008 to 2021
- Personal Continuity and Appropriate Prescribing in Primary Care
- Impact of primary care usual provider type and provider interdependence on outcomes for patients with diabetes: a cohort study
- Qualitative study evaluating the expectations and experiences of Dutch parents of children with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms visiting their general practitioner
- The impact of remote care approaches on continuity in primary care: a mixed-studies systematic review
- Time for Family Medicine to Stop Enabling a Dysfunctional Health Care System
- The Impact of Interpersonal Continuity of Primary Care on Health Care Costs and Use: A Critical Review
- Interpersonal Primary Care Continuity for Chronic Conditions Is Associated with Fewer Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits Among Medicaid Enrollees
- The impact of remote care approaches on continuity in primary care: a mixed-studies systematic review
- Interpersonal Primary Care Continuity for Chronic Conditions Is Associated with Fewer Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits Among Medicaid Enrollees
- General practitioners ending their practice and impact on patients health, health care use and mortality. A protocol for national registry cohort studies in Norway, 2006 to 2021
- Measuring the Value Functions of Primary Care: Physician-Level Continuity of Care Quality Measure
- General practice and patient characteristics associated with personal continuity: a mixed-methods study
- Association between resident status and patients experiences of primary care: a cross-sectional study in the Greater Bay Area, China
- How does general practitioner discontinuity affect healthcare utilisation? An observational cohort study of 2.4 million Norwegians 2007-2017
- Are there opportunities to improve care as patients transition through the cancer care continuum? A scoping review protocol
- Predictors of Family Medicine Patient Retention in Opioid Medication-Assisted Treatment
- Having a Usual Source of Care Is Associated with Longer Telomere Length in a National Sample of Older Adults
- Assessing the Longitudinal Impact of Physician-Patient Relationship on Functional Health
- The Built Environment for Professionalism
- Physical Distancing With Social Connectedness
- Evaluating quality of overall care among older adults with diabetes with comorbidities in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective cohort study
- Admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions on rural islands and their association with patient experience: a multicentred prospective cohort study
- Continuity of care and delivery of diabetes and hypertensive care among regular users of primary care services in Chile: a cross-sectional study
- Powering-Up Primary Care Teams: Advanced Team Care With In-Room Support
- Tackling multimorbidity in primary care: is relational continuity the missing ingredient?
- Colluding With the Decline of Continuity
- Higher Primary Care Physician Continuity is Associated With Lower Costs and Hospitalizations
- The Long Loneliness of Primary Care
- Practice sharing among residents in a family medicine teaching unit
- Direct Primary Care: Applying Theory to Potential Changes in Delivery and Outcomes
- Partage de clientele entre les residents dun site de formation en medecine de famille
- Continuity and Access in the Era of Part-Time Practice
- Individual utilisation thresholds and exploring how GPs knowledge of their patients affects diagnosis: a qualitative study in primary care
- The Challenges of Measuring, Improving, and Reporting Quality in Primary Care
- Visit Entropy Associated with Hospital Readmission Rates
- Patients Who Choose Primary Care Physicians Based On Low Office Visit Price Can Realize Broader Savings
- Continuity of care in primary care and association with survival in older people: a 17-year prospective cohort study
- The Personal Doctoring Manifesto: A Perspective from the Keystone IV Conference
- A Primary Care Panel Size of 2500 Is neither Accurate nor Reasonable
- Ameliorer les soins primaires: La continuite est une question de relations
- Improving primary care: Continuity is about relationships
- Teamlets in Primary Care: Enhancing the Patient and Clinician Experience
- A population-based study comparing patterns of care delivery on the quality of care for persons living with HIV in Ontario
- Patient-doctor continuity and diagnosis of cancer: electronic medical records study in general practice
- Effect of Continuity of Care on Hospital Utilization for Seniors With Multiple Medical Conditions in an Integrated Health Care System
- Managing patients with multimorbidity in primary care
- Validation of 2 New Measures of Continuity of Care Based on Year-to-Year Follow-up With Known Providers of Health Care
- Impact of Continuity of Care on Mortality and Health Care Costs: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Korea
- The Future Role of the Family Physician in the United States: A Rigorous Exercise in Definition
- Staffing Patterns of Primary Care Practices in the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative
- Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Access to Primary Care Among People With Chronic Conditions
- The 10 Building Blocks of High-Performing Primary Care
- How patient-centred care is changing orthopaedics
- An Argument for Comprehensiveness as the "Special Sauce" in a Recipe for the Patient-Centered Medical Home
- Discontinuity of care at end of life: a qualitative exploration of OOH end of life care
- Continuity of GP care is related to reduced specialist healthcare use: a cross-sectional survey
- The strength of primary care systems
- Better management of patients with multimorbidity
- Performance of Primary Care Physicians and Other Providers on Key Process Measures in the Treatment of Diabetes
- Prevention and management of chronic disease in Aboriginal and Islander Community Controlled Health Services in Queensland: a quality improvement study assessing change in selected clinical performance indicators over time in a cohort of services
- A systematic review of evidence on the links between patient experience and clinical safety and effectiveness
- Patients' experience of chronic illness care in a network of teaching settings
- In This Issue: Local+Familiar=Healthier
- Do English patients want continuity of care, and do they receive it?
- Patient-Doctor Depth-of-Relationship Scale: Development and Validation
- Continuity of care: Differing conceptions and values
- Preventive Service Gains from First Contact Access in the Primary Care Home
- Continuity of care is good for elderly people with diabetes: Retrospective cohort study of mortality and hospitalization
- Implications of Reassigning Patients for the Medical Home: A Case Study
- Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home and Preventive Services Delivery
- Does Having a Personal Physician Improve Quality of Care in Diabetes?
- The Generalist Approach
- Consistency of Care and Blood Pressure Control among Elderly African Americans and Whites with Hypertension
- How should continuity of care in primary health care be assessed?
- Information exchange among physicians caring for the same patient in the community
- The Medical Home: Growing Evidence to Support a New Approach to Primary Care
- Measuring Continuity of Care in Diabetes Mellitus: An Experience-Based Measure
- Patients' Perceptions of Interpersonal Continuity of Care
- Effect of Improved Primary Care Access on Quality of Depression Care
- In This Issue