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Continuity in General Practice and Hospitalization Patterns: an Observational Study by Wensing, Michel (author);Szecsenyi, Joachim (author);Laux, Gunter (author) is a Health Professions article available to read on EtoBox.

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## Abstract ## Background High continuity of care is a key feature of strong general practice. This study aimed to assess the effect of a programme for enhancing strong general practice care on the continuity of care in Germany. The second aim was to assess the effect of continuity of care on hospitalization patterns. ## Methods We performed an observational study in Germany, involving patients who received a strong general practice care programme (n=1.037.075) and patients who did not receive this programme (n=723.127) in the year 2017. We extracted data from a health insurance database. The cohorts were compared with respect to three measures of continuity of care (Usual Provider Index, Herfindahl Index, and the Sequential Continuity Index), adjusted for patient characteristics. The effects of continuity in general practice on the rates of hospitalization, rehospitalization, and avoidable hospitalization were examined in multiple regression analyses. ## Results Compared to the control cohort, continuity in general practice was higher in patients who received the programme (continuity measures were 12.47 to 23.76% higher, P< 0.0001). Higher continuity of care was independently ass

Who reads Continuity in General Practice and Hospitalization Patterns: an Observational Study?

Author

Wensing, Michel (author);Szecsenyi, Joachim (author);Laux, Gunter (author)

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Published

2021

Language

EN

Field

Health Professions (Health Sciences)