Table 1:

Definitions of different types of continuity as emerged from the literature

• Experienced continuity - the patient’s judgement of co-ordinated and smooth progression of care.3

• Relational (interpersonal) continuity*- an ongoing therapeutic relationship between a patient and one or more providers.3, 4

• Team continuity - Care obtained from a group of healthcare professionals working in either primary or secondary care settings, providing consistent communication and co-ordination of care for their patients.

• Cross-boundary continuity - Care that follows the patient across settings (e.g. from primary care to hospital or vice versa).3

• Longitudinal continuity*- care from the same healthcare professional or as few professionals as possible, consistent with other needs.3

• Flexible continuity- services that are flexible and adjusted to the needs of the individual over time.3

• Management continuity - a consistent and coherent approach to the management of a health condition that is responsive to a patient’s changing needs.4

• Geographic continuity - care that is given or received in person on one site (office, home, hospital, etc).4, 5

• Informational continuity - information transfer that follows the patient.3

^*Relational continuity and longitudinal continuity are not easy to distinguish from each other and are therefore often regarded as one type of continuity.4