Measuring continuity in the era of technology-enabled care

Abstract

CONTINUITY OF CARE (or simply, ‘continuity’), which Haggerty et al define as the degree to which a patient experiences their care as ‘coherent[, …] connected and consistent with [their] medical needs and personal context’, has been recognised as a feature of high-quality medical care, especially primary care, for more than half a century.1 Recent studies have reinforced this consensus, with data associating continuity with increased patient2 and provider3 satisfaction, decreased cost of care4 and even decreased mortality.5 However, measuring, tracking and improving continuity remains a significant challenge, in part because of the subjectivity and complexity of the patient–provider relationship. In addition, technological advancements in healthcare delivery may threaten the validity of existing measures of continuity. Here we review existing measures of patientexperienced continuity of care, discuss how they are affected by technologyrelated changes to healthcare and suggest avenues for future research on continuity.