Along with the availability of administrative claim data in recent years, researchers have constructed claim-based continuity of care (COC) measurements and found that better COC was associated with favorable health outcomes. Can these claim-based COC measures, however, represent the concept of COC? This issue deserves investigation. This article reviews the following: (1) the evolution and implication of the concept and measurement of COC; (2) the limitation of application of claim-based quantitative measures of COC; and (3) COC measurement from the patient perspective. We found that COC was a multi-dimensional concept in previous studies; however, the claim-based COC measures describe the concentration or dispersion of physician visits among healthcare providers, and we consider that these quantitative measures might not reflect the multi-dimensional concept of COC. In addition, claim-based COC measures may not reflect the essence of care continuity in different care contexts and the medical care environment. Finally, COC measures from the patient perspective has gradually become more important. We suggest that researchers may develop measurement tools for COC from the patient perspective. Furthermore, researchers should examine the relationship between claim-based COC measures and COC measures from the patient perspective in various dimensions, and examine the effects of various COC measures on health outcomes.
Date:
2017-08-15
Relation:
Taiwan Journal of Public Health. 2017 Aug 15;36(4):324-336.
