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The Concept and Measurement of Continuity in Primary Care

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Specialty Public Health
Date 1980 Feb 1
PMID 7352605
Citations 46
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Abstract

Continuity of care, a stated fundamental principle of family medicine, is reviewed in terms of its philosophy and definitions. A model of continuity in primary medical practice is proposed, consisting of five elements: the provider, consumer, encounter type, knowledge base, and environment of continuity. The elements are measurable, some more easily than others. There is need to define and operationalize the model more accurately in order to evaluate continuity in primary care medicine.

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