Evaluation of Continuity of Care at a Health Service Organization

Continuity of care is a concept that has been garnering increased attention in the last few years. There have been multiple methods proposed by researchers for measuring continuity of care, most of which are based on proportions or ratios of visits to the same health care provider or centre. While a consistent method for measuring continuity of care is lacking, increased continuity of care using various definitions and measurement tools has been related to better well being, lower health care costs, better glucose control, and higher satisfaction but has also not been found to improve health outcomes in other scenarios. Whether a patient is better served by high sequential access to one provider or any provider within the same system or management team is controversial. Finally, patients' perceptions of continuity of care have not been generally evaluated or correlated with current measurement methods. This project was conducted with patients at the Group Health Centre in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, a multi-disciplinary, multi-specialty health services organization serving 44,000 rostered patients

Inclusion criteria

• Adults (>18 years)
• Diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (according to the definition used in 1999 by the Canadian Diabetes Association

Exclusion criteria

• Gestational diabetes
• Could not communicate in English
• Life expectancy or residency expectancy in Sault Ste Marie of less than three years