Assigning population to personal doctors improves continuity of care
Background In the Omalääkäri 2.0 report issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Finland, the Continuity of Care model was presented. The model aims for an optimal continuity in the doctor-patient relationship by assigning the population to permanently employed general practitioners (GP) and GP trainees.
Methods An average Finnish health center (HC), responsible for 10 000 inhabitants, was created for the base data of the study. The study examined HC operational models where 1) all doctors treated the entire population, 2) the population was distributed to be treated by two teams of doctors or 3) operations were organized according to the Continuity of Care model. Additionally, the study examined two levels of patient flow. Continuity was calculated using the Continuity of Care Index (Coci).
Results The Continuity of Care model achieved a significantly better level of continuity (Coci 0.61-0.81) compared to dividing HC doctors and the population into teams (COCI 0.20-0.27) or if all doctors treated the entire population (Coci 0.11-0.13).
Conclusions Based on this study and scientific evidence of continuity in the doctor-patient relationship, there is no justification for not assigning the population to GPs in Finland. Notably, the Continuity of Care model does not increase a doctor’s workload.
