Methods for measuring comprehensiveness in primary care: a narrative review

Area of Science:

• Primary Care Research
• Health Services Research
• Measurement in Healthcare

Background:

• Comprehensiveness in primary care involves managing most patient needs while respecting individual values and beliefs.
• There is a need for validated measures to assess and apply primary care comprehensiveness effectively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize validated measures for assessing comprehensiveness in primary care.
• To facilitate the practical application of primary care comprehensiveness measurement.

Main Methods:

• A narrative literature review using a hierarchical approach.
• Multi-stage PubMed searches with MeSH terms and snowballing.
• Inclusion criteria focused on measurement, assessment, and application of primary care comprehensiveness.

Main Results:

• Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria for the review.
• Methodologies included claims-based analyses and patient experience surveys.
• Diverse strategies were identified for measuring the scope of clinical services.

Conclusions:

• Effective measurement of primary care comprehensiveness requires integrating clinical service scope, healthcare cost/utilization, and patient outcomes.
• Pragmatic implementation of these methods can guide health systems in measuring and achieving comprehensiveness.
• This synthesis supports enhancing primary care delivery by evaluating its comprehensive nature.