Abstract
Continuity of care is a long-standing, growing topic of healthcare, especially in primary care. Continuity between general practitioners and patients likely affects healthcare indicators, such as patient satisfaction, healthcare utilization, mortality, healthcare expenditure, etc. This review aims to examine the relationship between continuity and various healthcare indicators. A MEDLINE search covering 1966-2021 identified 10 systematic reviews and 26 relevant studies. There were 13 different continuity measures identified in these individual studies. Hospital admissions/ re-admissions and emergency room visits are the most explored outcome measures, where significant negative effects were found to be consistent with higher continuity. More recent studies, especially in the Nordic countries, explored the impacts of discontinuity. Additionally, patients with chronic disease conditions were paid more attention to in recent studies. However, evidence in these two areas is limited and requires further research.
JEL-Classification: I11, I15, I18, H40, H51, H75
Keywords: continuity of care, primary health care, patient-physician relationship, coordination of care, interpersonal continuity, continuity index, named GP, general practitioner, discontinuity of care, general practitioner discontinuity, patient satisfaction, quality of care.