Patients’ experiences with continuum of care across hospitals. A multilevel analysis of Consumer Quality Index Continuum of Care

Abstract

Objective Communication between professionals is essential because it contributes to an optimal continuum of care. Whether patients experience adequate continuum of care is uncertain. To address this, a questionnaire was developed to elucidate this care process from a patients’ perspective. In this study, the instrument's ability to measure differences in “Consumer Quality Index Continuum of Care” scores between hospitals was investigated. Methods The questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 2159 patients and comprised of 22 items divided over four domains, GP approach, GP referral, specialist and collaboration. Multilevel analysis was conducted to identify case-mix and determine this questionnaire's ability to measure differences in domain scores between hospitals. Results Based on a 65% response rate, 1404 questionnaires were available for analysis. Case-mix of patient characteristics across hospitals could not be demonstrated. Some differences in scores between hospitals were observed. At most two in eight hospitals showed different domain scores. Conclusion The ability of this questionnaire to measure differences in continuum of care scores between hospitals is limited. The outcome of this survey suggests that hospitals provide a similar level of continuum of care from a patient's perspective. Practical implications This questionnaire is especially useful for measuring differences between patients.