ArticleThe Permanente journal2015
Financial implications of the continuity of primary care.
Article in The Permanente journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cost savings from primary care clinic continuity among patients with chronic disease in Alberta, Canada: a retrospective population-level cross-sectional study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Article
- Continuity of Care Surrounding Emergency Department Encounters for People with Kidney Failure in Alberta, Canada: A Qualitative Study.Kidney360 · 2026Article
- Aeromedical evacuations in the Canadian North: does the presence of a physician alter rates?International journal of circumpolar health · 2025Article
- Trends in access to primary care among Canadian older adults before, during, and following the COVID-19 public health emergency.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Toward a universal definition of provider-patient attachment in primary care.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2024Review
- The Relationship Between Continuity of Care and Enhancement of Clinical Outcomes Among Patients with Chronic Conditions.Patient preference and adherence · 2024Article
- The associations of continuity of care with inpatient, outpatient, and total medical care costs among older adults with urinary incontinence.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- The value of family medicine: An impossible job, done impossibly well.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2023Article
- Article
- Observational
- Evaluation of the McMaster Family Health Team: results and practical implications for quality improvement.BMJ open quality · 2018Article
- Effects of the Full Service Family Practice Incentive Program.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2017Article
- Incentive funding in BC is a key factor for physicians to remain in family practice.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2017Article
- Continuity of Care Evaluation: The View of Patients and Professionals about Urban Family Physician Program.International journal of preventive medicine · 2017Article
- Using standardized patient encounters to teach longitudinal continuity of care in a family medicine clerkship.BMC medical education · 2016Article
- Incentive-Based Primary Care: Cost and Utilization Analysis.The Permanente journal · 2015Article
- The Impact of Primary Care Clinic and Family Physician Continuity on Patient Health Outcomes: A Retrospective Analysis From Alberta, Canada.Annals of family medicineObservational
- Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe objective of this study was to assess the financial implications of the continuity of care, for patients with high care needs, by examining the cost of government-funded health care services in British Columbia, Canada.
methodsUsing British Columbia Ministry of Health administrative databases for fiscal year 2010-2011 and generalized linear models, we estimated cost ratios for 10 cost-related predictor variables, including patients' attachment to the practice. Patients were selected and divided into groups on the basis of their Resource Utilization Band (RUB) and placement in provincial registries for 8 chronic conditions (1,619,941 patients). The final dataset included all high- and very-high-care-needs patients in British Columbia (ie, RUB categories 4 and 5) in 1 or more of the 8 registries who met the screening criteria (222,779 patients).
resultsOf the 10 predictors, across 8 medical conditions and both RUBs, patients' attachment to the practice had the strongest relationship to costs (correlations = -0.168 to -0.322). Higher attachment was associated with lower costs. Extrapolation of the findings indicated that an increase of 5% in the overall attachment level, for the selected high-care-needs patients, could have resulted in an estimated cost avoidance of $142 million Canadian for fiscal year 2010-2011.
conclusionsContinuity of care, defined as a patient's attachment to his/her primary care practice, can reduce health care costs over time and across chronic conditions. Health care policy makers may wish to consider creating opportunities for primary care physicians to increase the attachment that their high-care-needs patients have to their practices.
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