Unsatisfactory working conditions and job stress may be indicative of working in a society where work-life balance is a desired, but often elusive, goal (Duxbury & Higgins, 2001; Smola & Sutton, 2002; Sturges & Guest, 2004). Working conditions in the healthcare sector are reported to be particularly problematic and stress inducing compared to other work sectors (Yassi, Ostry, Spiegel, Walsh, & de Boer, 2002). In fact, quality of work life (QOWL) among healthcare workers is believed to have deteriorated to the point where it is impeding the capacity of the system to recruit and retain staff needed to provide effective patient care (Koehoorn, Lowe, Rondeau, Schellenberg, & Wager, 2002). The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of healthcare staff who participate in QOWL initiatives aimed to provide employees with creative, educational, and fun activities designed to address feelings of stress. This study included thirteen staff members from disciplines that comprise the Health Care Team at a facility specializing in aging and veteran's care. Data were collected through conversational interviews with staff from each of the following disciplines: nursing, recreation therapy, physiotherapy, creative arts, clinical nutrition, social work, audiology, occupational therapy, and pastoral care. The data were deconstructed into common themes through an open-ended process, which lead to the identification of common experiences across the data provided by the staff. Upon further comparison of the themes, it was identified that work demands were believed to detract from care provision and strained manager relations were believed to minimize quality of care. However, a strong professional identity was evident as staff described being able to rise above adversity and use their skills and competencies to provide quality care to residents. The data also suggested QOWL initiatives seem to be valuable because they provide opportunities for staff to interact socially. This interaction helps foster and strengthen connections amongst staff, which they feel transfers to the work place through improved working relationships. Participants described feelings of personal gratification that can be derived from team cohesiveness. They also acknowledged the carry over value that team work brings to residents by way of improved care provision. Furthermore, the relationships that staff members develop with one another were viewed as sources of strength, particularly in times of increased stress. In addition to the social element associated with the QOWL initiatives, these initiatives also seem to address a need for restoration, humour, and balance within the work day. Without planned opportunities for rejuvenation and humour appreciation, participants admitted that they would seldom take the time to incorporate these into their work day. Therefore, QOWL initiatives can provide staff with a reason to take a break and find their balance. The findings indicate the factors affecting QOWL are varied and complex. The findings also indicate that there can be a paradoxical nature to work within a health care setting. Paradoxes exist in relation to the provision of professional care and the provision of minimized care. Paradoxes also exist in relation to the expressed need for restoration, humour, and balance and the low priority staff will place on taking time to fulfill these needs.

Bakgrund: Den psykiska hälsan hos sjuksköterskor kan påverka den givna vårdkvaliteten gentemot patienter. Oregelbundna arbetstider, dålig arbetsmiljö och stress är några av de faktorer som kan ge en försämrad psykisk hälsa. Syfte: Syftet med detta arbete är att studera om det finns ett samband mellan skattningen av psykisk hälsa och skattning av given vårdkvalitet hos sjuksköterskor vid ett sjukhus i Mellansverige. Jämförelse görs även utifrån variablerna kön, ålder och aktiva år i sjuksköterskeprofessionen och om det finns ett samband mellan ovan variabler. Metod: Data samlades in via en enkät med två skalor; GHQ-12 som avser att upptäcka psykisk ohälsa och påvisa tecken på depression, samt ett självskattningsformulär som behandlar kvaliteten av given vård. Resultat: Det kunde inte påvisas något signifikant samband mellan skattad psykisk hälsa och skattad given vårdkvalitet. Det fanns ett statistiskt signifikant samband mellan skattad psykisk hälsa och inkludering av patienten och anhöriga i utformning och genomförandet av vården. Studien visar att kvinnliga sjuksköterskor skattar sin psykiska hälsa sämre jämfört med manliga sjuksköterskor. Slutsats: Det fanns i denna studie inget signifikant samband mellan skattad psykisk hälsa och skattad given vårdkvalitet. Vid analys av delskalor inom variabeln vårdkvalitet fann vi att sjuksköterskor som skattar en lägre psykisk hälsa även skattar att de är sämre på att inkludera patienten och/eller anhöriga i utförandet och utformningen av vården / Background: The psychological health in nurse practitioners can affect the quality of the care given to patients. Irregular work hours, bad working environment and stress are some of the factors that can result in a decline in psychological health. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to compare the self-perceived psychological health in nurse practitioners at Academic Hospital in Uppsala with their own perception of quality of given care. Comparisons will also be done regarding gender, age and active years in the nursing profession. Methods: Data was collected via a survey with two scales; GHQ-12 which is used to distinct psychological disorders and signs of depression, along with a self-assessment form regarding quality of given care. Results: There was no significant correlation between self-perceived psychological health and self-perceived quality of given care. There is a statistical significant connection between psychological health and inclusion of the patient and relatives regarding planning and giving care. This study shows that female nurses grade their psychological health as lower compared to male nurses. Conclusions: This study showed no significant correlation between self-perceived psychological health and self-perceived quality of given care. The result shows that nurses that have a lower self-perceived psychological health grade themselves lower regarding the inclusion of the patient and/or their relatives in the planning and implementation of the care

A frequently cited reason for poor quality of care in the ambulatory care setting is the lack of optimally designed systems to address care for those with preventive or chronic care needs. Organizational theory suggests that culture plays an important role in the shaping of these types of programs. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to understand through descriptive and regression analysis of secondary data, the relationship between the existence of cultural characteristics such as collegiality, quality emphasis and autonomy, and the systems employed to improve quality of care within primary care practices. The study uses an integrated theoretical framework consisting of organizational culture, social network and organizational learning theories to better understand the rationale for the relationships. The analysis is an outgrowth of a previous National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) project conducted in Minnesota where 300 staff across 42 office practices were asked to answer questions on a self-report survey to assess the presence and function of clinical practice systems. To evaluate organizational culture, validated questions from the work of Kralewski and colleagues were also asked. Descriptive analysis results showed a large range in consistency of practice system use, with clinical information systems as most used and care management systems as least used. Results of the multivariate analysis showed collegiality and quality emphasis as significantly related to the use of practice systems. More specifically, both collegiality and quality emphasis were seen to positively influence the use of clinical quality evaluation and improvement systems and an emphasis of quality was seen to positively influence the use of clinician reminders and clinical information systems. A statistically significant relationship between autonomy and practice systems use was not seen. As the study shows that culture does influence the use of certain systems for care improvement, it provides an increased understanding and avenue for intervention/change in the continued quest for improved quality of care. Policymakers and practice leadership may want to focus energy on understanding primarily whether the culture of practices places an emphasis on quality and collegiality. Ultimately it may foster the use of practice systems for quality of care improvement.

This study examined the connections between cognitive functioning in individuals with dementia and caregiver burden, burden and mental health, mental health and quality of care. One hundred two dementia caregivers from San Lucas, Argentina completed questionnaires assessing these constructs. Caregiver burden, depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life explained 18.8% of the variance in quality of care – respect and 14.7% of the variance in quality of care – provide. An SEM with generally adequate fit indices uncovered that cognitive functioning in individuals with dementia was inversely associated with caregiver burden, caregiver burden was inversely associated with mental health, and mental health was positively associated with quality of care. These findings suggest that the cascade may also be reversed with the development and use of dementia caregiver interventions that improve caregiver burden and mental health and as a result, the quality of care for individuals with dementia.

Magister Artium - MA / Background: Physiotherapists are involved in the management of patients in the cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Patient and family perception of care has become an important measure in evaluating the quality of care, including care in the intensive care setting. Overall Aim: To explore and describe the family and patient perception of physiotherapy care rendered in a public sector cardiothoracic ICU in the Western Cape, South Africa. Method: This study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 (scoping review) identified and described available outcomes for measuring family perception of ICU care by searching six databases from inception to the 20th June 2018. Results from the scoping review informed the discussion schedule for the first primary study of Phase 2. Phase 2 (two exploratory descriptive qualitative primary studies) explored and described i) family perception and ii) patient perception of physiotherapy care in a cardiothoracic ICU. Audio-taped, individual face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted with family and patient participants that met the inclusion and exclusion sampling criteria (purposive sampling). Data was transcribed verbatim and analysed using deductive-inductive thematic content analysis. The data was coded, categorised and themes were generated. Trustworthiness of the data was ensured through methods addressing credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability. Results: A total of ten full text studies were included in the scoping review. Included studies were published between 2006 and 2017, were conducted in both developed and developing countries, in different ICUs (except cardiothoracic ICU)and all used different quantitative outcome measures to measure family perception of ICU care. Thirteen cardiothoracic ICU patients and their respective family members partook in the studies describing patient and family perception of cardiothoracic ICU physiotherapy care. The median patient age was 62 years; the mean ICU length of stay 6 days and the median family age was 55. Themes arising from the family perception of care data analysed included: i) understanding of physiotherapy care (the role of the physiotherapist, perceived benefit of physiotherapy and communication), family involvement in physiotherapy care (physical presence during physiotherapy sessions and decision-making), and satisfaction of physiotherapy ICU care. Themes arising from patient perception of care data analysed included: i) Physiotherapy management of patients, ii) The Physiotherapists – skill, iii) knowledge and professionalism, iv) Continuity of Care, v) Tangibility, vi) Physiotherapy benefits, vii) Decision-Making, viii) Communication, ix) Satisfaction of Physiotherapy ICU care. Overall, family and patients were satisfied with the physiotherapy care in the cardiothoracic ICU. However, there were areas of improvement such as the understanding of physiotherapy care, communication, family involvement in the physiotherapy care and decision-making. Conclusion: While there are multiple quantitative measures for measuring family perception of ICU care there is no “gold” standard measure that has been identified. A qualitative measure and research design would allow richer in-depth information on family perception of ICU care. The findings from the family and patient perception of cardiothoracic ICU physiotherapy care are influenced by many factors. While family and patients perceive cardiothoracic ICU physiotherapy care both positively and negatively, the majority of patient and family were satisfied overall with the care the patient received. Family perception of ICU physiotherapy care should be evaluated in order to identify areas for improvement in quality of care and could add to the body of evidence in ICU physiotherapy practice.

No Brasil, é crescente o número de instituições de saúde que estão buscando a certificação da qualidade dos seus processos por meio da acreditação e está em aprovação um projeto de Lei que visa tornar obrigatória a obtenção de uma certificação para todas as instituições de saúde. Entretanto, as pesquisas sobre acreditação demostram a existência de lacunas sobre os seus reais benefícios e que não há uma abordagem única para a introdução do programa no mundo. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar o impacto dos programas de acreditação nas instituições de saúde brasileiras, com foco em hospitais. O projeto de pesquisa foi desenvolvido em duas etapas: revisão da literatura e pesquisa empírica com a adoção de abordagem quantitativa, empregando o método pesquisa de avaliação (survey). O questionário foi elaborado a partir da revisão da literatura, outras pesquisas empíricas e opinião de especialistas. O projeto foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (Parecer 1.416.014). A pesquisa foi realizada pela internet utilizando o software SurveyMonkey®, no período de fevereiro a maio de 2016. Do total de 161 respostas recebidas, 141 foram consideradas válidas, sendo 74,47% (105/141) provenientes de hospitais e 23,53% (36/141) de outras instituições do setor de saúde, tais como ambulatórios, laboratórios, entre outros. A amostra foi não-probabilística, podendo ser classificada como por conveniência. Participaram da pesquisa instituições de 18 estados brasileiros e do Distrito Federal. Quanto ao perfil dos participantes, a idade média foi de 40 anos, 88% eram pós-graduados, 81% ocupavam posições gerenciais e 75% tinham mais de 10 anos de experiência profissional. Para avaliação dos resultados foram realizadas as análises de correlação de Spearman e de regressão logística. Os resultados demostraram que, na amostra analisada, há evidência de correlação significativa (? = 5%) e moderada entre o status da acreditação e as atividades de segurança do paciente (coeficiente de correlação = 0,537), de gestão da qualidade (coeficiente de correlação = 0,590), de planejamento - políticas e estratégias (coeficiente de correlação = 0,629) e envolvimento dos profissionais com os programas de qualidade (coeficiente de correlação = 0,430). A relação entre o status da acreditação e o envolvimento dos pacientes foi significativa (? = 5%), porém fraca (coeficiente de correlação = 0,252) o que sugere que o tema deveria ser tratado com uma política própria. Foram identificados 13 impactos organizacionais da acreditação relacionados, principalmente, aos processos internos, cultura, capacitação, imagem da instituição e diferencial competitivo. Na dimensão financeira, não foi confirmado como relevante o impacto da acreditação nos resultados, porém foi validada a necessidade de investimento em infraestrutura, inovação tecnológica e tecnologia da informação na etapa de preparação. Foi realizada a avaliação de confiabilidade e validade do instrumento de pesquisa, demonstrando que a estrutura do questionário estava adequada. Adicional à avaliação dos impactos da acreditação, a pesquisa identificou aspectos importantes que podem contribuir, na etapa de planejamento, com as instituições que pretendem adotar a acreditação. / There are an increasing number of health care organizations seeking quality certification of their processes through accreditation and a new law is under approval to make the quality certification compulsory for all institutions in Brazil. However, the research on accreditation demonstrate that there are still gaps on its actual benefits and that there is no general approach to the adoption of this program in the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of accreditation programs in Brazilian healthcare institutions, focusing on hospitals. The research project was developed in two stages: a literature review and an empirical research with the adoption of a quantitative approach, applying survey method. The questionnaire was developed from the literature review, other empirical researches and experts\' opinion. The project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine from the University of São Paulo (Process number 1,416,014). The survey was conducted over the internet using the SurveyMonkey® software, from February to May 2016. From the 161 responses received, 141 were considered valid, 74.47% (105/141) were from hospitals and 23.53 % (36/141) came from other institutions in the healthcare sector, such as ambulatories, laboratories, among others. The sample was non-probabilistic and can be classified as a \"convenience sample\". The respondents are from 18 Brazilian states and the Federal District. Regarding the profile of the participants, the average age was 40 years old, 88% were postgraduates, 81% held managerial positions and 75% presented more than 10 years of professional experience. To evaluate the results, it was performed the Spearman correlation and logistic regression analysis. The results showed that, in the sample, there is evidence of a significant (? = 5%) and moderate correlation between the status of accreditation and patient safety activities (correlation coefficient = 0.537), quality management (correlation coefficient = 0.590), planning - policies and strategies (correlation coefficient = 0.629) and involvement of professionals in the quality programs (correlation coefficient = 0.430). The correlation between the status of accreditation and the patients\' involvement was significant (? = 5%), but weak (correlation coefficient = 0.252) suggesting that this issue should be treated with an exclusive policy. It was identified 13 organizational impacts of accreditation related mainly to internal processes, culture, training, reputation of the institution and competitive aspects. The accreditation impact on the results has not been confirmed as relevant in the financial dimension, however, related to financial issues, it has been validated the need for investment in infrastructure, technological innovation and information technology in the earlier stage. It was also analyzed the reliability and validity of the survey instrument, showing that the structure of the questionnaire was adequate. In addition to the assessment of accreditation impact, this research identified some issues that may support institutions that intend to implement accreditation, in the planning phase.

Thesis advisor: Julie Mortimer / Essays on the effects of health policy payment systems in long-term care and end-of-life care institutions are studied. In the arena of long-term care, state Medicaid agencies have recently implemented pay-for-performance (P4P) programs to address poor quality of care in nursing homes. Using facility-quarter level data from 2003 to 2010, we evaluate the effects of Medicaid nursing home P4P programs on clinical quality measures, relying on variation in the timing of P4P implementation across states. Further, we exploit variation in the structure of states' programs to investigate whether programs that reward certain dimensions of quality are associated with larger improvements. We find P4P decreases the incidence of adverse clinical outcomes by as much as 8%, and the improvements are concentrated among the measures that experienced an increase in their relative returns and share strong commonalities in production. In the Hospice industry, changes to the current reimbursement system are mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The motivation stems from noticeable hospice utilization changes since the Medicare Hospice Benefit (MHB) introduced a per-diem reimbursement in 1983. This research analyzes the abilities of a multi-tiered payment system, and a simpler two-part pricing system, to accurately match Medicare payments with hospice patient costs. Both systems improve on the current payment mechanism, while two-part pricing is the only system to maintain access to care for all MHB eligible patients. In addition, consumer disutility incurred by driving to airports is estimated and used to define air travel markets. Though an accurate definition of an economic market is important for any study of industry, there is no rule governing what exactly constitutes a market. To define a market we must ask the question ``between which products do consumers substitute,'' knowing that the answer to this question will depend on how ``close'' products are to one another in product space, as well as how close they are to one another, and to consumers, in geographic space. We estimate a discrete choice model of air travel demand that uses known information about the locations of products and consumers, which allows us to study substitution patterns among air travel products at different airports. We evaluate the commonly used city-pair and airport-pair definitions of a market for air travel, and conclude that a city-pair is the appropriate definition. We also employ the Hypothetical Monopolist test for antitrust market definition, as defined by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, and conclude that the relevant geographic market for antitrust analysis is frequently more narrowly defined as an airport-pair. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Introdução: A segurança do paciente tem sido discutida amplamente no âmbito da assistência e da gerência de serviços de saúde, frente a sua magnitude no cenário nacional e internacional. Nesse sentido, o incremento da temática segurança do paciente no ensino e na pesquisa vem sendo também debatido e disseminado, a fim de gerar uma força de trabalho consciente e capaz de atender as demandas das instituições de saúde. Objetivo: Compreender a percepção do corpo docente e discente acerca dessa temática nos cursos de graduação em Enfermagem, Nutrição, Biomedicina, Farmácia, Fisioterapia e Psicologia de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior (IES) privada do interior do Estado de São Paulo. Percurso metodológico: Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, exploratório, descritivo na modalidade estudo de caso, cujo cenário foi o Centro Universitário Nossa Senhora do Patrocínio. Os participantes foram seis docentes e seis discentes dos cursos supracitados da referida IES. Os dados foram coletados após a anuência do Comitê de Ética, por meio de entrevista semiestruturada, no período de agosto a dezembro de 2015. Os achados foram apresentados na forma de narrativa e analisados segundo Minayo, e à luz do referencial teórico da integralidade em saúde proposto por Ceccim. Resultados: Das narrativas dos participantes emergiram quatro categorias, a saber: visão da temática segurança do paciente nos conteúdos programáticos de cursos de graduação em saúde; valorização da interdisciplinaridade; interface entre a visão holística e a segurança do paciente; lacuna da temática segurança do paciente nos conteúdos programáticos. Desse modo, constatamos que a percepção da temática segurança do paciente esteve associada à importância da interdisciplinaridade e à necessidade do ensino dessa temática de forma articulada. Considerações finais: O estudo permitiu conhecer a percepção de docentes e discentes a respeito da temática segurança do paciente, destacando-se a necessidade de fomentar a inclusão dessa temática nas matrizes curriculares. Por conseguinte, acreditamos que cabe às IES a implantação e a implementação de estratégias de ensino concernentes à segurança do paciente, com a finalidade de verticalizar o conhecimento entre os futuros profissionais da área da saúde e, consequentemente, contribuir para a efetiva incorporação da cultura de segurança nos estabelecimentos de atenção à saúde. / Introduction: Patient Safety has been widely discussed in the context of managing and assistance in health services, due to its magnitude in national and international scenario. Considering this, the debate around the theme \"patient safety\" has raised in order to create and improve a workforce that should be conscious and able to meet the need of Health Institutions. Objective: Understanding teachers and students perceptions about patient safety, in undergraduate courses, specifically in Nursing, Nutrition, Biomedicine, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Psychology, from a private college in São Paulo State heartland. Methodology: Qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study, based on case study, that took place at Centro Universitário Nossa Senhora do Patrocínio. The participants were six teachers and six students from the graduation courses mentioned before. All the data were collected after Ethics Committee approval, through semi-structured interviews, from August to December 2015. The findings of this study were presented into the narrative form and analyzed according to Minayo\'s studies, assisted by the Health Integrality theoretical scheme proposed by Ceccim. Results: Four categories emerged from participants\' narratives: perspective about the theme \"patient safety\" in Global Health Courses\' curricula; interdisciplinarity appreciation; interface between holistic perspective and patient safety; the lack of the theme \"patient safety\" in courses\' curricula. Therefore, we could observe that this theme has always been connected to the importance of interdisciplinarity and to the need of teaching and discussing it in an articulated manner. Final comments: This study showed teachers and students perceptions about the theme \"patient safety\", emphasizing the need to stimulate discussions and the inclusion of this theme in courses curricula. Consequently, we believe it is colleges responsibility to include and initiate teaching and researching strategies about it, in order to spread this knowledge to future Global Health professionals and, as a result, contribute to the internalization of patient safety culture in health care places.

Palliative care (PC) is a specialty that improves the quality of care often for terminally ill patients and their family members by providing physical, psychosocial, and spiritual pain and symptom management. PC assists patients in decision making about their goals of care. These goals of care discussions help the treating physicians to better plan more appropriate treatment options specifically tailored for each patient based on their preferences. Due to the illness severity of the patients, approximately 20% of all hospital deaths occur in the intensive care unit (ICU). Recognition of and advocacy for integrating PC in the ICU have increased in the last decade following many studies which have shown the positive effects of PC for critically ill patients and their family members. This was a single-center retrospective study conducted at an academic hospital that examined the effects of a proactive PC intervention and the clinical outcomes on patients who died in the medical and neurological ICUs (MICU and NICU), since the majority of ICU deaths occurred in these two units. This study was a quality improvement project that examined only patients who died, in order to make a similar comparison between patients who ultimately had the same clinical outcome. This pre-intervention (phase 1) and post-intervention three phase analysis measured the effectiveness of a screening tool (phase 2), and a daily ICU huddle (phase 3) compared to the pre-intervention phase. The study analyzed the impact the interventions had on clinical measurable outcomes such as 1) day of PC consultation after ICU admission and after meeting criteria, 2) day of meeting criteria for PC based on a screening tool, 3) hospital and ICU lengths of stay, 4) direct cost per discharge, and 5) the average number of PC consultations per month. Electronic database review of all MICU and NICU patients who died from July 2010 to December 2011 and April 2013 to October 2014 were performed. Comparisons were made between patients who received a PC consultation and those who received usual care, from both pre-intervention and post-intervention phases. A total of 888 patients were included and analyzed in this study. The intervention reduced the average day of PC consultation after ICU admission from 9.55 in phase 1 to 4.95 in phase 2 and to 4.75 in phase 3 after the addition of the daily huddle. The average day of PC consultation after meeting criteria in the ICU was also reduced from 8.0 to 3.08 then to 2.18, respectively. The average number of PC consultations per month increased from 10.6 to 12.8 to 17.7 in the three respective phases. The cost per discharge was not significantly different from patients who received a PC consultation and for patients who received usual care. PC service did not reduce the length of stay for patients when compared to patients who received usual care. The sensitivity and specificity of the screening tool in phase 2 were 66.2% and 70.8%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the screening tool with daily huddle in phase 3 were 65.7% and 62.5%, respectively. Proactive screening for PC eligibility and discussion of that eligibility with the critical care team improves access to PC in the ICU. The screening tool and daily ICU huddle helped critical care physicians identify the group of patients most appropriate for PC consultation. The analysis suggests that the critical care physicians were able to accurately discriminate which end-of-life patients they could manage on their own. However, the low sensitivity and specificity of the screening tool suggests that there is still significant room for refinement in order for the screening tool to be more discriminatory and effective. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.

La continuité des soins est une caractéristique centrale des soins primaires. Celle-ci représente principalement l’idée d’une relation durable dans le temps entre le patient et son médecin. Elle a été associée dans la littérature à un impact positif sur la qualité des soins, et sur la santé : amélioration de la satisfaction des patients vis-à-vis de leurs soins, réduction du nombre d’hospitalisations et de visites aux urgences. Cependant, la question de la continuité est peu présente dans les réformes françaises des soins primaires à l’inverse de la question de l’accès aux soins. L’objectif de la thèse est de valider un indicateur de la continuité, évaluer la continuité des soins en France, son évolution et son impact sur la santé. L’indicateur pourra fournir un outil de pilotage des soins primaires aux Agences Régionales de Santé (ARS). Celui-ci pourra être utilisé dans le cadre du suivi des schémas régionaux d’organisation des soins ambulatoires afin de garantir le maintien et l’amélioration de la continuité en France.Ce travail s’est appuyé principalement sur les données de l’échantillon généraliste des bénéficiaires. Il s’agit d’un échantillon au 1/97e des données de remboursements de l’assurance maladie, représentatif de la population générale. La continuité a été évaluée à l’aide d’un indice de continuité qui permet d’évaluer la concentration des visites médicales d’un patient avec le même médecin généraliste. Cette mesure est un reflet indirect de la longitudinalité. Après avoir évalué le niveau de continuité en France, l’association de continuité à la mortalité a été testée à l’aide d’un modèle de Cox, en introduisant la mesure de continuité comme une variable dépendante du temps. Dans un deuxième temps, le rôle des facteurs contextuels d’offre de soins et des facteurs individuels sur le niveau de continuité a été testé à l’aide d’un modèle multiniveau. Enfin, les caractéristiques métrologiques de la mesure de continuité des soins ont été testées afin de valider la mesure en tant qu’indicateur.Les résultats montrent que la continuité des soins en France a peu évolué ces dernières années et se maintient à un niveau relativement élevé. Une variation interrégionale existe avec des régions ayant une meilleure continuité des soins et d’autres avec une continuité plus faible. Les analyses montrent par ailleurs que la diminution de la continuité des soins est associée à une augmentation du risque de décès de l’ordre de 4 % en population générale. Le niveau de continuité est associé principalement à des facteurs individuels et aux caractéristiques du médecin. Les facteurs d’offres de soins n’ont qu’un rôle modéré dans la variation de la continuité des soins, même si les résultats confirment l’association négative entre continuité et accès. Enfin, la mesure a des qualités métrologiques suffisantes pour être validées en tant qu’indicateur de qualité.En conclusion, la continuité des soins est associée au niveau de santé de la population. L’évaluation de la continuité dans le contexte français montre un niveau moyen élevé en France, sous doute lié à l’attachement en France au médecin généraliste, mais révèle également des variations interrégionales. Ces variations représentent une marge d’amélioration de la continuité et l’opportunité d’améliorer le niveau de santé de la population. Ainsi, l’utilisation d’outils tels qu’un indicateur de continuité pourrait permettre aux ARS de suivre l’évolution de la continuité et de mesurer l’impact de réforme comme les parcours de patients. La mise en place de stratégie nationale de santé représente une opportunité d’introduire la notion de continuité au cœur des soins primaires. / Continuity of care is a central feature of primary care. It represents the idea of a long lasting relationship between the patient and his doctor. It has been associated with a positive impact on the quality of care and on health outcomes such as improving patient satisfaction with health care or fewer hospitalizations and emergency room visits. However, continuity has been somewhat neglected in the French primary care reforms in contrast to issues such as access to care. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the efforts to improve access could have reduced continuity. Thus, the aim of the thesis is to evaluate continuity of care in France and assess its recent evolution and its impact on health. The final objective is to validate a measure of continuity that could be used as a management tool for Regional Agencies of Health.This work is based on data from a 1/97e, representative of the general population, sample of the national health insurance database that contains every health care reimbursements made to French beneficiaries. Continuity was assessed using the continuity index of Bice and Boxerman that assesses the concentration of medical consultations with the same general practitioner. This measure is an indirect reflection longitudinality. The measure was used to assess the level of continuity in France and assess the association between continuity and all-cause mortality using a Cox model and introducing the measure of continuity as a time-dependent variable. Furthermore, the measure was also used to assess the role of individual and contextual factors, including provision of care, on the level of continuity using a multilevel model. Finally, the metrological characteristics of the measure were tested to validate the measurement as an indicator based on the Agency for Health Research and Quality.The analyses showed that continuity of care in France has remained constant in recent years at a relatively high level. However, interregional variation with regions with better continuity of care and others with lower continuity were seen. Lower continuity of care values were associated with a four percent increase in likelihood of death in the general population. Continuity levels were also associated with individual factors, such as sex, age and social status of the beneficiaries, as well as factors at the physician level. Provision of care factors had a moderate role in the variation of continuity of care levels. However, the results confirm the negative association between continuity and access. Finally, the measure was validated as a quality indicator.In conclusion, continuity of care is associated with the level of health of the population. The evaluation of the continuity in the French context shows a relatively high level in France, no doubt due to the attachment in France to the general practitioner model. However, it also revealed interregional variations that suggest that there is room for improvement and thus an opportunity to improve the level of health of the population. The use of tools such as a continuity indicator could allow regulatory agencies to monitor continuity and measure the impact of implementing actions, such as care pathways. The elaboration of the national healthcare strategies is a tremendous opportunity to include continuity of care in primary care organization planning.