Timely-access-to-primary-care-provider - Health Quality Ontario (HQO)

INDICATOR NAME

Name

Same-day or next-day appointment with a Primary Care Provider

Alternate Name

Percentage of people aged 16 and older who reported they saw their primary care provider, or another provider in their office, in either less than 2 days, 2-3 days, 4-7 days or 8 or more days, when they were sick and felt that they urgently needed care.

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION

Description

This indicator shows the percentage of people aged 16 or older who reported they saw their family doctor, or another primary care provider in their office, on the same or next day when they were sick and felt that they urgently needed care during the previous 12 months, in Ontario. People lacking timely access to their primary care provider may end up visiting a walk-in clinic or hospital emergency department instead, which can affect continuity of patient care and contribute to long waits in crowded emergency departments. A higher percentage is better.
The results can be reported for 2-3 days; 4-7 days and 8 or more days.

HQO Reporting tool/product

Public reporting

Dimension

Timely

Type

Process

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 that in the last 12 months when wanted to see a primary care provider (i.e. a family doctor, a general practitioner or GP, or nurse practitioner), they had an appointment the same day or the next day (in less than 2 days)

The results can be reported for 2-3 days; 4-7 days and 8 or more days.

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

Weighted number of respondents who reported that in the last 12 months they saw a primary care provider or another provider in the practice when they were sick and felt that they urgently needed care.

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

Only people aged 16 years and older can complete the survey. People living in institutions, in households without telephones, and those with invalid/missing household addresses in the Registered Persons Database (RPDB) are excluded. 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 geographic region and community weighting is applied. References ‘fill fd_type’ in the question can mean a family doctor, GP, nurse practitioner, or anyone else the respondent said they get their primary care from. The education stratification analysis is done 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.