A team-based approach can be effective in providing continuity of care for hypertension in general practice, according to a new study.

Dr Esther Yee Tak Yu at the University of Hong Kong, and colleagues explain in the British Journal of General Practice that continuity of care has previously been linked to improved health outcomes in hypertension. They state that, compared with the physician-patient one-to-one continuity of care, team-based continuity of care “allows more flexibility in service delivery”, but there is a lack of evidence for its effectiveness in this patient group.

They carried out a primary care study in Hong Kong involving figures on 421,640 patients seen from 2008 to 2018. Those in the top quarter for “usual provider continuity” had a 10% lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those in the bottom quarter for continuity.

“Team-based continuity of care via a coordinated physician team was associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality among patients with hypertension, especially for the patients with unsatisfactory blood pressure control,” write the authors. “Early initiation of team-based continuity of care may also achieve extra benefits.”

The authors believe that team-based continuity of care “can transform the previous one-to-one physician-patient relationship by connecting the patient to a coordinated group of physicians, thereby helping to sustain the continuity of care for patients with hypertension in the long-term follow-up”. However, they note that sustaining long-term continuity of care between the patient and the designated physician remains a challenge.