RE: Does Continuity Matter?

No, Dr. Loxterkamp, continuity does not matter, not to those who run health care (which we as docs have allowed to be run mostly by hospitals), no matter their nice words and slick ads. Nor does access or advocacy matter. I work across the state in the foothills of Maine, where for over 15 years I saw everyone the day they called and was on time for appointments. They saw me and only me. Now I may work (one day a week) in the same system as you. I do acutes and MAT. I work with fabulous people, but in a place so inefficient that, with all sorts of layers of staff, I still see the same number of folks I saw when I did it myself. We cover for the other two practices in the network. One NP has no openings till April. I work for Teladoc also, and no one can ever get an appointment—they may not even have a doc at all. The reasons are the ones you know. Doctors have been silent, and now, employed by complex health care systems, they have no idea why things went wrong. They are so shielded. In my former system, a recent survey said 62% of docs were indifferent. We have let hospitals systems make processes difficult. We have put up with multiple websites to do referrals—often to people WE as PCPs are getting paid; we cannot be gatekeepers to XRT for breast cancer, but I must "refer" patients on my dime. Doctors are unwilling to actually DO anything, even if they knew what they could do. Some of us write a bit, but we are watching a society in decline, a pretty little planet being destroyed. Health care is a house of cards where every entity is out for themselves and the big eat the small and access? Continuity? No. No, it does not matter really.