Table 4. Qualitative Data Summary from Focus Group Interviews

Themes	Subthemes	Description
1. Clinic diversity	1.1 PCP assignment accuracy	Clinics have different systems for ensuring that PCP fields are frequently updated and accurate.
	1.2 Scheduling	Clinics place variable importance on scheduling patients with their PCP rather than the first available provider.
	1.3 Location/type	University, FQHC, and rural clinics may have intrinsic differences in patient population and structure.
2. Provider diversity	2.1 Provider type	Physician (MD/DO) and mid-level (PA/FNP) providers may have differences in both scope of practice and approach to care.
	2.2 Provider sex	Female and male providers may have differences in both scope of practice and approach to care.
	2.3 Scope of practice	Providers who provide maternity care, inpatient care, sports medicine, suboxone, resident precepting, etc., may have different UPC patterns than providers who solely conduct outpatient continuity clinics.
	2.4 Nonclinical duties	Providers with more academic/administrative responsibilities may have different UPC patterns than those with strictly clinical practices.
	2.5 Clinic scheduling	Providers with more open schedules or night/weekend clinics may have different UPC patterns than those with primarily prescheduled daytime clinics.
	2.6 Location of residency	Providers who trained at OHSU may have more developed panels for their year in practice than providers who trained elsewhere.
3. Patient diversity	3.1 Panel demographics	SES, sex, race, ethnicity, age, medical complexity, visit frequency, and other panel demographics are likely to influence UPC for a given provider.
3. Patient diversity	3.2 Importance of continuity to patient	Some patients frequently change providers for a variety of reasons, making their PCP field relatively arbitrary.
4. Visit type	4.1 Acute care	Acute care visits may not be as important as chronic or ongoing care in terms of actual continuity.
4. Visit type	4.2 Nonoffice visits	Current calculation of UPC does not take into account phone, E-mail, or MyChart encounters, where a meaningful interaction occurs without face-to-face contact.
5. Non-PCP continuity	5.1 Team continuity	Patients may value continuity with a team of providers more than with a specific provider.
	5.2 Clinic continuity	Patients may value continuity with a particular clinic more than with an individual or team of providers.
	5.3 Family continuity	Continuity across families may be more important than continuity with individual patients.
6. Absences	6.1 Planned vs. unplanned	Are all absences from clinic a diversion from continuity (eg, deliveries, inpatient), or is it just unplanned absences (eg, illness)?
6. Absences	6.2 New parent leave	Specific extended absence that may behave differently than other absences in terms of continuity.

DO, osteopathic doctor; FNP, family nurse practitioner; FQHC, federally qualified health center; MD, medical doctor; OHSU, Oregon Health & Sciences University; PA, physician assistant; PCP, primary care provider; UPC, Usual Provider Continuity Index.