Grant: Operating Grant

Family physicians who receive accurate information from other health care providers are able to provide better continuity of care to their patients, and with the likelihood of better health outcomes. The health care delivery system comprises many avenues, and family physicians (as well as their patients) experience periods of waiting as they navigate the twists and turns. So, the overarching goal of this research study is to provide information which can lead to timely communication and coordination across the health care sectors. Data, extracted in a secure research environment from electronic medical records of community-based family physicians, will show actual wait times in practice. And, using these wait times, we will provide estimates of wait times between primary care, on the one hand, and specialty care or out-of-office services, on the other. We also plan to calculate the wait times for the family physician's receipt of information after a patient is either seen by a specialist physician or discharged from a hospital and/or an emergency department. And, finally, we will examine, quantitatively, the coordination of care between primary care and community-based services. In showing which geographic areas are experiencing excessively long waits, we have two important hopes: 1. that health planners will consider providing additional health resources to these areas, and 2. that the newer primary care reform models will consider including health care personnel who could provide valuable assistance to patients with specific conditions, until they see the specialist physician.