Association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study cohort
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. Objective To assess the association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner (GP) contact and unplanned diabetes-related hos...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP
2019
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76985 |
| _version_ | 1848763795509346304 |
|---|---|
| author | Moorin, Rachael Youens, David Preen, D.B. Harris, Mark Wright, Cameron |
| author_facet | Moorin, Rachael Youens, David Preen, D.B. Harris, Mark Wright, Cameron |
| author_sort | Moorin, Rachael |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. Objective To assess the association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner (GP) contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation or emergency department (ED) presentation. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Individual-level linked self-report and administrative health service data from New South Wales, Australia. Participants 27 409 survey respondents aged ≥45 years with a prior history of diabetes and at least three GP contacts between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2015. Main outcome measures Unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisations or ED presentations, associated costs and bed days. Results Twenty-one per cent of respondents had an unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation or ED presentation. Increasing regularity of GP contact was associated with a lower probability of hospitalisation or ED presentation (19.9% for highest quintile, 23.5% for the lowest quintile). Conditional on having an event, there was a small decrease in the number of hospitalisations or ED presentations for the low (-6%) and moderate regularity quintiles (-8%), a reduction in bed days (ranging from -30 to -44%) and a reduction in average cost of between -23% and -41%, all relative to the lowest quintile. When probability of diabetes-related hospitalisation or ED presentation was included, only the inverse association with cost remained significant (mean of A3798 to A6350 less per individual, compared with the lowest regularity quintile). Importantly, continuity of provider did not significantly modify the effect of GP regularity for any outcome. Conclusions Higher regularity of GP contact - that is more evenly dispersed, not necessarily more frequent care - has the potential to reduce secondary healthcare costs and, conditional on having an event, the time spent in hospital, irrespective of continuity of provider. These findings argue for the advocacy of regular care, as distinct from solely continuity of provider, when designing policy and financial incentives for GP-led primary care. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:09:08Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-76985 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:09:08Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-769852019-11-26T04:37:27Z Association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study cohort Moorin, Rachael Youens, David Preen, D.B. Harris, Mark Wright, Cameron Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Medicine, General & Internal General & Internal Medicine PRIMARY-CARE HEALTH-CARE QUALITY RISK EMERGENCY MORTALITY INDEX © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. Objective To assess the association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner (GP) contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation or emergency department (ED) presentation. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Individual-level linked self-report and administrative health service data from New South Wales, Australia. Participants 27 409 survey respondents aged ≥45 years with a prior history of diabetes and at least three GP contacts between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2015. Main outcome measures Unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisations or ED presentations, associated costs and bed days. Results Twenty-one per cent of respondents had an unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation or ED presentation. Increasing regularity of GP contact was associated with a lower probability of hospitalisation or ED presentation (19.9% for highest quintile, 23.5% for the lowest quintile). Conditional on having an event, there was a small decrease in the number of hospitalisations or ED presentations for the low (-6%) and moderate regularity quintiles (-8%), a reduction in bed days (ranging from -30 to -44%) and a reduction in average cost of between -23% and -41%, all relative to the lowest quintile. When probability of diabetes-related hospitalisation or ED presentation was included, only the inverse association with cost remained significant (mean of A3798 to A6350 less per individual, compared with the lowest regularity quintile). Importantly, continuity of provider did not significantly modify the effect of GP regularity for any outcome. Conclusions Higher regularity of GP contact - that is more evenly dispersed, not necessarily more frequent care - has the potential to reduce secondary healthcare costs and, conditional on having an event, the time spent in hospital, irrespective of continuity of provider. These findings argue for the advocacy of regular care, as distinct from solely continuity of provider, when designing policy and financial incentives for GP-led primary care. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76985 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027158 English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Medicine, General & Internal General & Internal Medicine PRIMARY-CARE HEALTH-CARE QUALITY RISK EMERGENCY MORTALITY INDEX Moorin, Rachael Youens, David Preen, D.B. Harris, Mark Wright, Cameron Association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study cohort |
| title | Association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study cohort |
| title_full | Association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study cohort |
| title_fullStr | Association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study cohort |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study cohort |
| title_short | Association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: A data linkage study in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study cohort |
| title_sort | association between continuity of provider-adjusted regularity of general practitioner contact and unplanned diabetes-related hospitalisation: a data linkage study in new south wales, australia, using the 45 and up study cohort |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Medicine, General & Internal General & Internal Medicine PRIMARY-CARE HEALTH-CARE QUALITY RISK EMERGENCY MORTALITY INDEX |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76985 |