Continuity of care: Vital, but how do we measure and promote it?

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Author(s)
Jackson, Claire
Ball, Lauren
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2018
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BACKGROUND: Continuity of care is a fundamental element of traditional general practice linked, via an expanding evidence base, with important patient and system outcomes. It is of particular importance as populations age and live increasingly with significant, ongoing lifestyle and chronic disease challenges. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this article is to examine the challenges in measuring and promoting continuity of care in Australia. DISCUSSION: Appropriate measurement is challenging and the choice of tool requires careful consideration. This should include scope, length, validation testing, accessibility of the tool, alignment ...
View more >BACKGROUND: Continuity of care is a fundamental element of traditional general practice linked, via an expanding evidence base, with important patient and system outcomes. It is of particular importance as populations age and live increasingly with significant, ongoing lifestyle and chronic disease challenges. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this article is to examine the challenges in measuring and promoting continuity of care in Australia. DISCUSSION: Appropriate measurement is challenging and the choice of tool requires careful consideration. This should include scope, length, validation testing, accessibility of the tool, alignment with the initiative requiring evaluation, and application to local and system-level analysis. As our healthcare system looks to major reform in the near future, we must ensure that it supports and incentivises continuity of care in its policy development, care models, payment method, training, data analytics, and community consultation and messaging.
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View more >BACKGROUND: Continuity of care is a fundamental element of traditional general practice linked, via an expanding evidence base, with important patient and system outcomes. It is of particular importance as populations age and live increasingly with significant, ongoing lifestyle and chronic disease challenges. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this article is to examine the challenges in measuring and promoting continuity of care in Australia. DISCUSSION: Appropriate measurement is challenging and the choice of tool requires careful consideration. This should include scope, length, validation testing, accessibility of the tool, alignment with the initiative requiring evaluation, and application to local and system-level analysis. As our healthcare system looks to major reform in the near future, we must ensure that it supports and incentivises continuity of care in its policy development, care models, payment method, training, data analytics, and community consultation and messaging.
View less >
Journal Title
Australian Journal of General Practice
Volume
47
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
Claire Jackson and Lauren Ball, Continuity of care: Vital, but how do we measure and promote it?, Australian Journal of General Practice Volume 47, Issue 10, Page 662-664. Available at https://dx.doi.org/10.31128/AJGP-05-18-4568
Subject
Health care administration
Health services and systems
General practice
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Medicine, General & Internal
General & Internal Medicine