Having-a-primary-care-provider - Health Quality Ontario (HQO)

INDICATOR NAME

Name

Having a family doctor or other primary care provider

Alternate Name

Percentage of people aged 16 and older who reported having a family doctor or other primary care provider.

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION

Description

This indicator measures the percentage of people in Ontario aged 16 and older who reported having a family doctor or other primary care provider for regular check-ups and when sick. Having a primary care provider is associated with better follow-up, screening and illness prevention for patients, as well as better use of resources within the health system. A higher percentage is better.

HQO Reporting tool/product

Public reporting

Dimension

Patient-centred, Timely

Type

Outcome

DEFINITION AND SOURCE INFORMATION

Unit of Measurement

Percentage

Calculation Methods

Numerator divided by the denominator times 100

Numerator (short description i.e. not inclusions/exclusions)

Weighted number of survey respondents who reported having a family doctor or other primary care provider that they see for regular check-ups or when sick. This groups respondents into those who are attached to a primary care provider.

Denominator (short description i.e. not inclusions/exclusions)

Weighted number of survey respondents who answered questions on:

- having a family doctor, a general practitioner or GP, a nurse practitioner, or other primary care provider or regular check-ups and when sick.

Answering this series of questions groups respondents into those who are attached to a primary care provider and those who are not attached.

Adjustment (risk, age/sex standardization)- generalized

None

Data Source

Health Care Experience Survey (HCES)

Data provided to HQO by

Ministry of Health

Reported Levels of comparability /stratifications (defined)

Age, Education, Immigration, Income, Language, Province, Region, Rurality, Sex

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

Caveats and Limitations

1. Only people aged 16 years and older can complete the survey. 2. People living in institutions, in households without telephones, and those with invalid/missing household addresses in the Registered Persons Database (RPDB) are excluded. 3. Respondents who were unable to speak English or French or were not healthy enough (physically or mentally) to complete the interview were not surveyed. The Health Care Experience Survey (HCES) on which the indicator data are based has been affected by reduced surveying in 2023. The 2023 data are unreliable for some indicator results, so those are not reported. Please note that results for 2023 are based on data collected from April to December 2023 rather than during the entire calendar year.

Comments Summary

The results are weighted to account for the design characteristics of the survey and post-stratified by age and sex to reflect the Ontario population. In addition, regional and community weighting is applied. The education stratification analysis is reported among those aged 25 and older. Urban/rural status is defined using Statistics Canada's Statistical Area Classification. Household income analysis does not consider household composition.