Continuity of care is associated with high-quality care by parental report

Context. The benefits of continuity of pediatric care remain controversial. Objective. To determine whether there is an association between having a continuous relationship with a primary care pediatric provider and improved quality of care by parental report. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting and Population. Seven hundred fifty-nine patients presenting to a primary care clinic completed surveys, which included validated measures of provider and clinic quality of care from the Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Survey. Main Exposure Variable. A continuity of care index that quantifies the degree to which a patient has experienced continuous care with a provider. Main Outcome Measures. The likelihood of parents reporting quality of care as high in several provider-specific items including reporting that providers respected what they had to say, treated them with courtesy and respect, listened to them carefully, explained things in a way they could understand, and spent enough time with their children. In addition, participants were asked to rate the overall quality of the clinic and their child's provider on a 10-point scale. Results. In ordered logistic regression models, continuity of care was associated with statistically significantly higher Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Survey scores for 5 of the 6 items, including feeling that providers respected what parents had to say; listened carefully to them; explained things in a way that they could understand; asked about how their child was feeling, growing, and behaving; and spent enough time with their child. In addition, greater continuity of care was associated with a higher clinic rating, as well as a higher provider rating. Conclusions. Greater continuity of primary care is associated with higher quality of care as reported by parents. Efforts to improve and maintain continuity may be warranted.