Enabling patient–physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational study
Background: Continuity of care is important for patients with chronic conditions. Assigning patients to a named GP may increase continuity. Aim: To examine whether patients who were registered with a named GP at the onset of their first chronic disease had higher continuity of care at subsequent v...
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| Language: | English |
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Royal College of General Practitioners
2024-12-01
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| Series: | BJGP Open |
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| Online Access: | https://bjgpopen.org/content/8/4/BJGPO.2024.0118 |
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| author | Lina Maria Ellegård Anders Anell Gustav Kjellsson |
| author_facet | Lina Maria Ellegård Anders Anell Gustav Kjellsson |
| author_sort | Lina Maria Ellegård |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Continuity of care is important for patients with chronic conditions. Assigning patients to a named GP may increase continuity. Aim: To examine whether patients who were registered with a named GP at the onset of their first chronic disease had higher continuity of care at subsequent visits than patients who were only registered at a practice. Design & setting: Registry-based observational study in Skåne County, Sweden. The study population included 66 063 patients registered at the same practice at least 1 year before the onset of their first chronic condition between 2009 and 2015. Method: We compared patients registered with a named GP with patients only registered at a practice over a 4-year follow-up period. The primary outcome was the usual provider of care (UPC) index for all visits and for visits related to the chronic disease. Secondary outcomes were the number of GP, nurse, and out-of-hours visits; emergency department visits; hospital admissions; and mortality. We used linear regression models, adjusted for patient characteristics (using entropy balancing weights) and for practice-level fixed effects, to compare the UPC between those registered with a named GP and those who were not. Results: Patients with a named GP at onset of their condition had a UPC that was 3–4 percentage points higher than patients who did not have a named GP, but the difference decreased and was not statistically significant after adjusting for patient and practice characteristics. Patients with a named GP made more visits, although not specifically for the chronic condition. There were no statistically significant differences for the other outcomes. Conclusion: Patient registration with a GP at diagnosis of their first chronic condition does not demonstrate higher continuity of care at subsequent GP visits and is not linked to other relevant outcomes for patients. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6ec80e9ed62f4c41adcb7f9d4a7ac3be |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2398-3795 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Royal College of General Practitioners |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BJGP Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-6ec80e9ed62f4c41adcb7f9d4a7ac3be2024-12-30T10:06:20ZengRoyal College of General PractitionersBJGP Open2398-37952024-12-018410.3399/BJGPO.2024.0118Enabling patient–physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational studyLina Maria Ellegård0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1311-9927Anders Anell1Gustav Kjellsson2Department of Economics, Lund University, Lund, SwedenDepartment of Business Administration, Lund University, Lund, SwedenCentre for Health Governance, Department of Economics, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, SwedenBackground: Continuity of care is important for patients with chronic conditions. Assigning patients to a named GP may increase continuity. Aim: To examine whether patients who were registered with a named GP at the onset of their first chronic disease had higher continuity of care at subsequent visits than patients who were only registered at a practice. Design & setting: Registry-based observational study in Skåne County, Sweden. The study population included 66 063 patients registered at the same practice at least 1 year before the onset of their first chronic condition between 2009 and 2015. Method: We compared patients registered with a named GP with patients only registered at a practice over a 4-year follow-up period. The primary outcome was the usual provider of care (UPC) index for all visits and for visits related to the chronic disease. Secondary outcomes were the number of GP, nurse, and out-of-hours visits; emergency department visits; hospital admissions; and mortality. We used linear regression models, adjusted for patient characteristics (using entropy balancing weights) and for practice-level fixed effects, to compare the UPC between those registered with a named GP and those who were not. Results: Patients with a named GP at onset of their condition had a UPC that was 3–4 percentage points higher than patients who did not have a named GP, but the difference decreased and was not statistically significant after adjusting for patient and practice characteristics. Patients with a named GP made more visits, although not specifically for the chronic condition. There were no statistically significant differences for the other outcomes. Conclusion: Patient registration with a GP at diagnosis of their first chronic condition does not demonstrate higher continuity of care at subsequent GP visits and is not linked to other relevant outcomes for patients.https://bjgpopen.org/content/8/4/BJGPO.2024.0118continuity of carepractice managementchronic conditions |
| spellingShingle | Lina Maria Ellegård Anders Anell Gustav Kjellsson Enabling patient–physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational study BJGP Open continuity of care practice management chronic conditions |
| title | Enabling patient–physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational study |
| title_full | Enabling patient–physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational study |
| title_fullStr | Enabling patient–physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enabling patient–physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational study |
| title_short | Enabling patient–physician continuity in Swedish primary care: the importance of a named GP. A registry-based observational study |
| title_sort | enabling patient physician continuity in swedish primary care the importance of a named gp a registry based observational study |
| topic | continuity of care practice management chronic conditions |
| url | https://bjgpopen.org/content/8/4/BJGPO.2024.0118 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT linamariaellegard enablingpatientphysiciancontinuityinswedishprimarycaretheimportanceofanamedgparegistrybasedobservationalstudy AT andersanell enablingpatientphysiciancontinuityinswedishprimarycaretheimportanceofanamedgparegistrybasedobservationalstudy AT gustavkjellsson enablingpatientphysiciancontinuityinswedishprimarycaretheimportanceofanamedgparegistrybasedobservationalstudy |