Timely access to primary care in New Brunswick

Abstract

Objective To examine the factors that influence variation in timely access to primary care across the different health regions in New Brunswick.Design Descriptive and comparative study of organizational practices in primary care practices based on speed of access. Data were collected from December 2019 to March 2020 using semistructured interviews conducted by telephone, in person, or online, according to participants' preferences. Setting New Brunswick.Participants Participants were primary care providers. Two types of regions were targeted: those with a higher proportion of citizens with timely access to primary care (regions with faster access) and those with less timely access (regions with slower access). A sample of 27 participants was used.Main outcome measures Organizational practices (ie, new technologies, teambased health services, performance measurement, method of appointment booking, and physician remuneration model) according to prevalence of timely access. ResultsParticipants in regions with faster access measured their performance more often (45.5% vs 12.5%, P=.046), did not use mixed compensation models (0.0% vs 31.3%, P<.001), and managed more patients (average of 2157 patients vs 950, P=.025), compared with participants from regions with slower access. ConclusionThis study found that performance measurements and other organizational practices are favourably linked to timely access to primary care. Editor's key pointsThis article has been peer reviewed.