Continuity of Care and Hospital Rounding Times Among Hospitalized Adults

Relational continuity of care refers to whether an individual patient is cared for consistently by the same clinician or clinicians1. In primary care, continuity of care has been shown to be associated with increased productivity2, reduced mortality and reduced hospital admissions3-4. Intuitively, it is likely that similar effects exist in secondary care, where breaks in continuity are common due to frequent patient transfers between wards and staff shift working. However, the magnitude of any association with productivity in secondary care is unquantified to date. As a step toward addressing this question, we assessed how the time taken to review patients on the daily ward round varied according to whether patients receive continuity of care.