Continuity of Care: Not a Sentiment from Bygone Times, but a Potential Parallel Problem Solver for Future Challenges
Continuity of care is a core value of general practice and has numerous proven benefits, such as reduced healthcare utilization, lower healthcare costs, and decreased mortality. However, society and healthcare have changed: general practitioners increasingly work part-time, the number of temporary staff is rising, and patients have a greater need for quick access to care. This creates friction—there is solid evidence that continuity of care is cost-effective, yet we are acting on it less and less. In times of rising healthcare costs and shortages, this discrepancy is no longer justifiable.
Professor of General Practice Otto Maarsingh aims to identify modifiable factors associated with continuity of care and to develop, evaluate, and implement interventions to optimize continuity of care in general practice. In other words: which levers should be pulled, which levers work best, and how do we ensure that those levers are actually being used?