Effect of Patient Experience on Bypassing a Primary Care Gatekeeper: a Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study in Japan.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:To discuss how best to implement the gatekeeping functionality of primary care; identifying the factors that cause patients to bypass their primary care gatekeepers when seeking care should be beneficial. OBJECTIVE:To examine the association between patient experience with their primary care physicians and bypassing them to directly obtain care from higher-level healthcare facilities. DESIGN AND METHODS:This prospective cohort study was conducted in 13 primary care clinics in Japan. We assessed patient experience of primary care using the Japanese version of Primary Care Assessment Tool (JPCAT), which comprises six domains: first contact, longitudinality, coordination, comprehensiveness (services available), comprehensiveness (services provided), and community orientation. The p

SUBMITTER: Aoki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5910334 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature