ArticleAnnals of family medicine
Experienced continuity of care when patients see multiple clinicians: a qualitative metasummary.
Article in Annals of family medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 119 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
119 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Using Patient- and Family-Reported Outcome and Experience Measures Across Transitions of Care for Frail Older Adults Living at Home: A Meta-Narrative Synthesis.The Gerontologist · 2021Pooled it
- Older multimorbid patients' experiences on integration of services: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2019Pooled it
- Transitional Care for Patients With Congestive Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Annals of family medicine · 2015Pooled it
- Optimising personal continuity for older patients in general practice: a cluster randomised stepped wedge pragmatic trial.BMJ open · 2024Trial
- Trial
- A randomized clinical trial of a new perioperative practice model on anxiety and health-related quality of life in arthroplasty patients.Nursing open · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Continuity of Cancer Care and Collaboration Between Family Physicians and Oncologists: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial.Annals of family medicineTrial
- Optimising personal continuity in general practice: process evaluation of a toolkit.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- AI in Psychiatry for Improving Continuity of Patient Care: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Systematic Review.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Exploring Patient and Caregiver Work and Continuity of Care During Hospital-to-Home Transitions of Care in the Canadian Context.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Article
- Using human-centered design to map the perinatal ecosystem for pregnant people with substance use disorders.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Treatment outcomes of an integrated treatment model for patients with co-occurring opioid use and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Improving care coordination for socially complex perinatal patients: A human-centered design study.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Jack of all trades? Why I chose a training programme in general internal medicine.Future healthcare journal · 2025Article
- Patient perceptions of relational continuity in England: insights from two cross-sectional surveys.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Patient preferences and perceived barriers to follow-up care in a pharmacy-based colorectal cancer screening program: a national survey.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2025Article
59 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeContinuity of care among different clinicians refers to consistent and coherent care management and good measures are needed. We conducted a metasummary of qualitative studies of patients' experience with care to identify measurable elements that recur over a variety of contexts and health conditions as the basis for a generic measure of management continuity.
methodsFrom an initial list of 514 potential studies (1997-2007), 33 met our criteria of using qualitative methods and exploring patients' experiences of health care from various clinicians over time. They were coded independently. Consensus meetings minimized conceptual overlap between codes.
resultsFor patients, continuity of care is experienced as security and confidence rather than seamlessness. Coordination and information transfer between professionals are assumed until proven otherwise. Care plans help clinician coordination but are rarely discerned as such by patients. Knowing what to expect and having contingency plans provides security. Information transfer includes information given to the patient, especially to support an active role in giving and receiving information, monitoring, and self-management. Having a single trusted clinician who helps navigate the system and sees the patient as a partner undergirds the experience of continuity between clinicians.
conclusionSome dimensions of continuity, such as coordination and communication among clinicians, are perceived and best assessed indirectly by patients through failures and gaps (discontinuity). Patients experience continuity directly through receiving information, having confidence and security on the care pathway, and having a relationship with a trusted clinician who anchors continuity.
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