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. 1994:716–721.

Incorporating temporal and clinical reasoning in a new measure of continuity of care.

S A Spooner 1
PMCID: PMC2247802  PMID: 7950019

Abstract

Previously described quantitative methods for measuring continuity of care have assumed that perfect continuity exists when a patient sees only one provider, regardless of the temporal pattern and clinical context of the visits. This paper describes an implementation of a new operational model of continuity--the Temporal Continuity Index--that takes into account time intervals between well visits in a pediatric residency continuity clinic. Ideal continuity in this model is achieved when intervals between visits are appropriate based on the age of the patient and clinical context of the encounters. The fundamental concept in this model is the expectation interval, which contains the length of the maximum ideal follow-up interval for a visit and the maximum follow-up interval. This paper describes an initial implementation of the TCI model and compares TCI calculations to previous quantitative methods and proposes its use as part of the assessment of resident education in outpatient settings.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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