Commitment to a regular physician: How long will patients wait to see their own physician for acute illness?

BACKGROUND. Continuity of care with a physician is associated with better h ealth outcomes and greater patient satisfaction. Having a "regular doctor" could lead to greater continuity of care, but only if the patient consisten tly seeks care from this physician. How long will a patient wait for care i f their usual physician is not available? Our study explored factors relate d to a patient's decision to seek care from another professional. METHODS. We analyzed the results of a statewide random digit dialing teleph one survey of 658 Kentucky adults. Our study focused on the 466 adults who indicated they usually seek care from the same physician. Respondents were asked about seeing an alternate provider if they had an acute, non-life-thr eatening condition and their usual physician was not available. RESULTS. Of the respondents, 48.6% indicated they would seek care from anot her professional the same day, 41.6% would wait 1 day or more, and 9.8% wou ld not see another professional. Patients with asthma were significantly mo re likely to wait for care from their regular physician (P < .05), as were patients who usually visited a physician's office instead of a clinic (P < .05). in a multivariate model, seeking alternate care the same day was sign ificantly more likely among patients who were older, nonwhite, and who woul d seek alternate care at their usual site of care (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS. Maintaining continuity of care with their usual physician is i mportant to patients. Patient and practice characteristics may influence th e decision to wait for care in an effort to maintain continuity.