Evaluation of Continuity of Care at a Health Service Organization

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
This project was conducted with patients at a multi-disciplinary, multi-specialty health services organization serving 44,000 rostered patients in Northern Ontario. It investigated continuity of care for patients with diabetes in the areas of barriers and potential solutions to, and correlates of continuity; and variability in costs associated with continuity of care and patient outcomes.

Detailed Description
-----------------
Continuity of care is a concept that has been garnering increased attention in the last few years. There have been multiple methods proposed by researchers for measuring continuity of care, most of which are based on proportions or ratios of visits to the same health care provider or centre. While a consistent method for measuring continuity of care is lacking, increased continuity of care using various definitions and measurement tools has been related to better well being, lower health care costs, better glucose control, and higher satisfaction but has also not been found to improve health outcomes in other scenarios. Whether a patient is better served by high sequential access to one provider or any provider within the same system or management team is controversial. Finally, patients' perceptions of continuity of care have not been generally evaluated or correlated with current measurement methods. This project was conducted with patients at the Group Health Centre in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, a multi-disciplinary, multi-specialty health services organization serving 44,000 rostered patients

Official Title
-----------------
The Evaluation of the Continuity of Care at the Group Health Centre, A Unique Multi-Specialty, Multi-Disciplinary Health Service Organization

Conditions
-----------------
Diabetes Mellitus

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Behavioral: Assessment of continuity of care from the patient perspective
* Behavioral: Relationship between continuity of care, patient outcomes, and costs


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: Adults (>18 years) Diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (according to the definition used in 1999 by the Canadian Diabetes Association Exclusion Criteria: Gestational diabetes Could not communicate in English Life expectancy or residency expectancy in Sault Ste Marie of less than three years

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
No

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Behavioral: Assessment of continuity of care from the patient perspective|nan|
|Behavioral: Relationship between continuity of care, patient outcomes, and costs|nan|

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |

 Terms related to the study
=================
Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
-----------------
Diabetes, Continuity of Care, Patient Perspective, Health Service Organization