Timely access to primary care in New Brunswick: Variability across health regions

To examine the factors that influence variation in timely access to primary care across the different health regions in New Brunswick.

Descriptive and comparative study of organizational practices in primary care practices based on speed of access. Data were collected from December 2019 to March 2020 using semistructured interviews conducted by telephone, in person, or online, according to participants' preferences.

New Brunswick.

Participants were primary care providers. Two types of regions were targeted: those with a higher proportion of citizens with timely access to primary care (regions with faster access) and those with less timely access (regions with slower access). A sample of 27 participants was used.

Organizational practices (ie, new technologies, team-based health services, performance measurement, method of appointment booking, and physician remuneration model) according to prevalence of timely access.

Participants in regions with faster access measured their performance more often (45.5% vs 12.5%, P=.046), did not use mixed compensation models (0.0% vs 31.3%, P<.001), and managed more patients (average of 2157 patients vs 950, P=.025), compared with participants from regions with slower access.

This study found that performance measurements and other organizational practices are favourably linked to timely access to primary care.