HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Rapid Responses: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Clark, E. C. Articles by Gill, J. M. PubMed Articles by Clark, E. C. Articles by Gill, J. M.

The Association of Family Continuity with Infant Health Service Use

Department of Family Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Somerset (ECC)
Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland (JS, DIB, RR, BG)
Oregon Department of Human Services, Salem (BG)
Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JMG)

Correspondence: Corresponding author: Elizabeth C. Clark, MD, MPH, Department of Family Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 1 Worlds Fair Drive, Somerset, NJ 08773 (E-mail: clarkec{at}umdnj.edu)

Purpose: Continuity of care is a fundamental component of family medicine that has been shown to improve health care quality. Family continuity, when different family members are seen by the same clinician or practice, has not been well studied.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of Medicaid enrollees in Oregon using administrative data. Infants were determined to have family continuity if they received well-baby care at the same clinic as that in which their mothers received prenatal care.

Results: Of the 1591 infants identified for participation in this study, 749 (47.1%) had family continuity. Infants had a mean of 4.55 well-child visits, 1.23 emergency department visits, and 0.17 hospitalizations in the first 13 months of life. Multivariate analyses found that infants with family continuity had increased numbers of well-child visits (relative risk, 1.05; P = .041), increased numbers of emergency department visits (relative risk, 1.36; P < .0001), and no difference in the number of hospitalizations (relative risk, 0.85; P = .282) when compared with infants without family continuity.

Conclusions: Family continuity, when measured at the clinic level, is associated with a variable effect on infant health service use. This finding suggests that clinic-level continuity is not sufficient for achieving all the benefits of continuity.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. A. Bowman, A. V. Neale, and P. Lupo The Medical Home, Health Services, and Clinical Family Medicine Research J Am Board Fam Med, September 1, 2008; 21(5): 367 - 369. [Full Text] [PDF]