ArticleBMC health services research2015
Having a family doctor was associated with lower utilization of hospital-based health services.
Article in BMC health services research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01422031 (Utilization Pattern of Primary Health Care Services in Hong Kong - Does Having a Family Doctor Make Any Difference?), which is not on this map. Cited by 29 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
Utilization Pattern of Primary Health Care Services in Hong Kong - Does Having a Family Doctor Make Any Difference?
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- The use of centralized waiting lists for attachment to family physicians in Quebec, Canada: predictive factors and association with non-urgent emergency department use.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- The analysis of factors influencing patient choice of healthcare providers between tertiary hospitals and community clinics.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Am I attached? A patient-partnered approach to creating infographics about attachment to primary care in Ontario, Canada.Research involvement and engagement · 2024Article
- Toward a universal definition of provider-patient attachment in primary care.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2024Review
- Impact of family doctor system on diabetic patients with distinct service utilisation patterns: a difference-in-differences analysis based on group-based trajectory modelling.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Does contracting family doctor promote primary healthcare utilization among older adults? - evidence from a difference-in-differences analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Does a GP service package matter in addressing the absence of health management by the occupational population? A modelling study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Can family doctor system improve health service utilization for patients with hypertension and diabetes in China? A difference-in-differences study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Age- and sex-specific associations of frailty with mortality and healthcare utilization in community-dwelling adults from ontario, Canada.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Influencing factor analysis of family doctor contract service among older adults: evidence from China.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Telephone outreach by volunteer navigators: a theory-based evaluation of an intervention to improve access to appropriate primary care.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Observational
- Association between Primary Care Utilization and Emergency Room or Hospital Inpatient Services Utilization among the Middle-Aged and Elderly in a Self-Referral System: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011-2018.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Improved access to and continuity of primary care after attachment to a family physician: longitudinal cohort study on centralized waiting lists for unattached patients in Quebec, Canada.BMC primary care · 2022Observational
- Association of Continuity of General Practitioner Care with Utilisation of General Practitioner and Specialist Services in China: A Mixed-Method Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The impacts of family physician plan and health transformation plan on hospitalization rates in Iran: an interrupted time series.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Patient Choice and Willingness Toward Gatekeepers as First-Contact Medical Institutions in Chinese Tiered Healthcare Delivery System: A Cross-Sectional Study.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- General practice for the poor and specialist services for the rich: inequality evidence from a cross-sectional survey on Hangzhou residents, China.International journal for equity in health · 2019Article
- Centralized Waiting Lists for Unattached Patients in Primary Care: Learning from an Intervention Implemented in Seven Canadian Provinces.Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2018Article
- An Exploration of the Content and Usability of Web-Based Resources Used by Individuals to Find and Access Family Physicians.Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrimary care in the United States and most countries in Asia are provided by a variety of doctors. However, effectiveness of such diversified primary care in gate-keeping secondary medical services is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate health services utilization rates of hospital emergency and admission services among people who used different primary care doctors in Hong Kong.
methodThis study was a population-based cross-sectional telephone survey using structured questionnaire on health services utilization rates and pattern in Hong Kong in 2007 to 2008. Information on the choice of primary care doctors, utilization rates and patterns of primary care service were collected. Poisson and logistic regression analyses were used to explore any differences in service utilization rates and patterns among people using different types of primary care doctors.
resultsOut of 3148 subjects who completed the survey, 1896 (60.2%) had regular primary care doctors, of whom 1150 (60.7%) regarded their regular doctors as their family doctors (RFD). 1157 (36.8%) of them did not use any regular doctors (NRD). Only 4.3% of the RFD group (vs 7.8% of other regular doctors (ORD) and 9.6% of NRD) visited emergency service and only 1.7% (vs 3.6% of ORD and 4.0% of NRD) were admitted to hospital for their last episode of illness. Regression analyses controlling for sociodemographics and health status confirmed that respondents having RFD were less likely to use emergency service than people who had NRD (OR 0.479) or ORD (OR 0.624) or being admitted to hospital (OR 0.458 vs NRD and 0.514 vs ORD) for their last episode of illness.
conclusionPrimary care is the most effective in gate-keeping secondary care among people with regular family doctors. People without any regular primary care doctor were more likely to use emergency service as primary care. The findings supported a family doctor-led primary care model. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01422031.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.