Consistent Use of the Same Family Doctor (Doctor Continuity)
Identifying Attributes
Care Settings
Primary Care
Country
Canada
Publishing Organisation
Health Quality Council of Alberta
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Effectiveness
Domain
Service Delivery and Care Planning
Defining Attributes
Definition
The percentage of all visits to family doctors that are to the same family doctor.
Numerator
Sum of individual patients' physician continuity in a zone or primary care network. Individual patients' physician continuity is the percentage of time(s) a patient sees their primary physician compared to other family physician visits.
Denominator
The number of patients in a zone or primary care network, assigned based on attachment to a family physician.
Exclusions
Duplicate family physician visits based on Patient Health Number (PHN), date, procedure and diagnostic codes, and physician identification are removed. Patients who were seen by the physician but not assigned to them.
Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments
None
Stratifications
Collection and Reporting Attributes
Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods
Alberta Health Physician Claims
Frequency of Data Collection
Fiscal year
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
365
Reporting Methods
FOCUS on Healthcare Primary Healthcare Dashboard
Reporting Frequency
Annually (2018-2023)
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No
Source and Reference Attributes
Evidence Source
Technical Specifications
Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025
Contents
Actions
Date Modified 02 December 2025