Characteristics of Clinic Organization and Physician Practice That Influence Patients’ Confidence in Relational Continuitya
| Characteristic | Multivariate Regression Coefficient (95% CI) |
|---|---|
| CI=confidence interval. | |
| Note: the overall adjusted R2=15.9%. | |
| a Results of hierarchical regression modeling showing impact on achievement of optimal relational continuity. The model controlled for patient age, education, and use of primary care. Only the physician’s regular patients were included (N = 2,725). | |
| b Some 8.8% of the variance in relational continuity was attributed to between-clinic variance, of which 73.9% was explained by the final model. | |
| c Some 6.7% of the variance in relational continuity was attributed to between-physician variance, of which 40% was explained by the final model. | |
| Mean relational continuity for all clinics | 3.35 (3.34 to 3.39) |
| Clinic-level characteristicsb | |
| Clinic structure | |
| No. of other health care establishments with which the clinic has formal, operational agreements (effect of each additional establishment) | 0.03 (0.00 to 0.04) |
| Clinic services | |
| Availability of scheduled visits in the evening | 0.05 (−0.01 to 0.10) |
| Availability of scheduled visits on weekends | — |
| Physician-level characteristicsc | |
| Physician orientation | |
| Attachment to the community served by the clinic | 0.05 (0.02 to 0.08) |
| Physician intentions for informational continuity (communication of visit results to patient’s responsible physician) | 0.09 (0.06 to 0.13) |
| Physician practice | |
| Percentage of clinic hours spent on walk-in care =70% (compared with <50%) | −0.14 (−0.24 to 0.05) |
| No. of patients seen per hour (each additional patient above the mean of 3.4 patients per hour) | −0.03 (−0.05 to 0.00) |