Home-Based Primary Care Continuity Reduces Emergency Visits by Up to 39%
Event summary
- 75% continuity with a general practitioner in home-based care reduced emergency department visits by 39% and hospital admissions by 35%.
- Patients in an academic family medicine clinic preferred portal messages with their own physician within three days for six common health concerns.
- The studies were published in the Annals of Family Medicine on January 28, 2026.
- The home-based care study analyzed 1,207 adults with an average age of 88.5 years and multiple chronic conditions in Barcelona, Spain.
The big picture
The studies highlight the critical role of continuity of care in reducing emergency and hospital service use among home-based primary care patients. Meanwhile, patient preference research underscores the importance of timely access and convenience in primary care settings. These findings come as primary care continues to evolve, presenting challenges for systems to support both continuity and accessibility in sustainable ways. The research was published in the Annals of Family Medicine, an open-access journal sponsored by six major family medical organizations.
What we're watching
- Continuity vs. Access
- How primary care systems will balance continuity with trusted clinicians and timely access in sustainable ways.
- Scalability of Findings
- Whether the patient preference research from a single care setting can be generalized to broader populations.
- Operational Sustainability
- The pace at which primary care practices can implement high-continuity models without compromising operational efficiency.