• Steven J Atlas, Richard W Grant, Timothy G Ferris, Yuchiao Chang, and Michael J Barry.
• Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. satlas@partners.org
• Ann. Intern. Med. 2009 Mar 3; 150 (5): 325-35.

BackgroundValid measurement of physician performance requires accurate identification of patients for whom a physician is responsible. Among all patients seen by a physician, some will be more strongly connected to their physician than others, but the effect of connectedness on measures of physician performance is not known.ObjectiveTo determine whether patient-physician connectedness affects measures of clinical performance.DesignPopulation-based cohort study.SettingAcademic network of 4 community health centers and 9 hospital-affiliated primary care practices.Patients155 590 adults with 1 or more visits to a study practice from 2003 to 2005.MeasurementsA validated algorithm was used to connect patients to either 1 of 181 physicians or 1 of 13 practices in which they received most of their care. Performance measures included breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening in eligible patients; hemoglobin A(1c) measurement and control in patients with diabetes; and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol measurement and control in patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease.ResultsOverall, 92 315 patients (59.3%) were connected to a specific physician, whereas 53 669 patients (34.5%) were connected only to a specific practice and 9606 patients (6.2%) could not be connected to a physician or practice. The proportion of patients in a practice who could be connected to a physician varied markedly (45.6% to 71.2% of patients per practice; P < 0.001). Physician-connected patients were significantly more likely than practice-connected patients to receive guideline-consistent care (for example, adjusted mammography rates were 78.1% vs. 65.9% [P < 0.001] and adjusted hemoglobin A(1c) rates were 90.3% vs. 74.9% [P < 0.001]). Receipt of preventive care varied more by whether patients were more or less connected to a physician than by race or ethnicity.LimitationPatient-physician connectedness was assessed in 1 primary care network.ConclusionPatients seen in primary care practices seem to be variably connected with a specific physician, and less connected patients are less likely to receive guideline-consistent care.FundingNational Cancer Institute.

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