Continuity of care for family practice patients in a university hospital-based residency program

In the present study, conducted in a university hospital-based family practice residency program, 271 new patients to the family practice clinic were followed for a mean length of 3.4 years. During that time 27 (10 percent) patients were hospitalized at least once. Of a total of 58 hospitalizations, lasting an average of 6.3 days, only eight were made from the family practice clinic and only four family practice patients were actually admitted to the family practice ward service. Furthermore, more than half of the admissions were to the internal medicine or the obstetrics and gynecology services. This would appear to be inappropriate, given the fact that family physicians are trained to care for acutely ill adult patients and many obstetrical and gynecological patients. A review of hospital admissions records revealed a variety of issues in continuity of care. Recommendations are made regarding possible solutions and further research in this area.