Another Benefit of a Primary Care Continuity Relationship

Primary care continuity relationships are associated with better outcomes at lower cost. To examine how continuity of care affects subsequent emergency department (ED) use, Canadian investigators identified 5 million Ontario residents with documented family physicians (FPs) who had virtual visits in 2021 or 2022. About 20% of virtual visits were with physicians other than patients' own FPs. The outcome of interest was ED visits within 7 days after virtual visits.

After controlling for sociodemographic variables, diagnoses, and timing of virtual visits, likelihood of an ED visit was 66% higher for patients who saw physicians who were not their identified FPs than for patients who were seen by their own physicians. This difference corresponds …