Continuity of care, measurement and association with hospital admission and mortality: a registry-based longitudinal cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To assess whether continuity of care (COC) with a general practitioner (GP) is associated with mortality and hospital admissions for older patients We argue that the conventional continuity measure may overestimate these associations. To better reflect COC as a GP quality indicator, we present an alternative, service-based measure.

Design

Registry-based, population-level longitudinal cohort study.

Setting

Linked data from Norwegian administrative healthcare registries, including 3989 GPs.

Participants

757 873 patients aged 60-90 years with ≥2 contacts with a GP during 2016 and 2017.

Main outcome measure

All-cause emergency hospital admissions, emergency admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, and mortality, in 2018.

Results

SUBMITTER: Hetlevik O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8640634 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature