Measuring continuity of care in a family practice residency program

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Family Medicine

Background:

• Continuity of care is recognized as crucial in medical practice, particularly within the family medicine specialty.
• It is a fundamental element integrated into family practice residency training programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and describe various methods for quantifying continuity of care within a residency setting.
• To illustrate the practical application of these measurement techniques.

Main Methods:

• The study focuses on two key metrics: Continuity of Care (COC) and Usual Provider Continuity (UPC).
• These metrics are applied to analyze patient visit data, including visits for chronic conditions and those involving family members.

Main Results:

• The paper details specific approaches to calculating COC and UPC.
• Demonstrates how these continuity measures can be applied to different patient encounter types.

Conclusions:

• The presented methods offer a framework for evaluating continuity of care in residency programs.
• Assessing continuity of care is vital for understanding and improving the quality of patient management in family medicine.