A national study of medical and surgical specialties. III. An empirical approach to the classification of patient care
R. C. Mendenhall, C. E. Lewis, G. P. DeFlorio and R. A. Girard
A major feature of a national survey of medical and surgical specialties is
the development and application of an algorithm for classifying patient
care services provided by physicians. The care classification reflects much
of prevailing opinion regarding what constitutes primary and nonprimary
care. The classification system provides a powerful tool for the analysis
of patient care services, since it is based on conditions of access to
care, the physician's role in providing the care, measures associated with
continuity of care, and a proxy measure of comprehensiveness of care.
Furthermore, it is based on the recordings by physicians of actual
patient-encounter characteristics and is not operationally dependent on
physician characteristics or propensities.
