Health rarely settles in a single appointment. It moves over weeks and months, and good care moves with it. Continuity of care is the name for care that keeps time with you. Each appointment builds on the last, and your history comes with you.

Betterwell is a telehealth clinic built around a monthly check-in, so this idea sits at the centre of how we work. This guide explains what continuity of care means and what the research shows. It also walks through what happens at a monthly check-in.

Key points

  • Continuity of care is care that connects over time, with your history carried forward.
  • Researchers describe 3 types: informational, management and relational.
  • Studies of general practice link a long relationship with a regular GP to fewer hospital admissions.
  • Telehealth check-ins support continuity when they sit alongside your usual GP.

What is continuity of care?

Continuity of care is care that connects over time. Each appointment draws on what is already known about you. The plan holds together from one visit to the next, within an ongoing relationship with a practitioner. A 2003 review in the BMJ named 2 core elements of continuity: care of an individual person, and care over time.

The review, by Haggerty and colleagues, set out one definition that clinics and researchers could share. The authors were clear that each element depends on the other. “Both elements must be present for continuity to exist,” they wrote. Careful records are a start. Someone also has to follow your care from month to month.

The 3 types of continuity of care

Health researchers describe 3 types of continuity: informational, management and relational. Informational continuity means your history travels with you. Management continuity means the plan holds together as your needs change. Relational continuity means an ongoing relationship with a practitioner. Good care usually draws on all 3.

The same BMJ review defines each one in these words:

  • Informational continuity: “The use of information on past events and personal circumstances to make current care appropriate for each individual.”
  • Management continuity: “A consistent and coherent approach to the management of a health condition that is responsive to a patient’s changing needs.”
  • Relational continuity: “An ongoing therapeutic relationship between a patient and one or more providers.”

In everyday terms, informational continuity means you never start from the beginning. Management continuity is a plan that changes when your life does. Relational continuity is speaking with someone who remembers how last month went.

Why is continuity of care important?

Continuity of care matters because a practitioner who knows your history can notice change. They have a baseline to compare against, so small shifts are easier to see. In Australia, the RACGP lists continuous care as a criterion in its Standards for general practices. Large studies of general practice link longer relationships with a regular GP to better use of health services.

The RACGP standard says the relationship between a patient and their regular GP “has been shown to reduce visits to emergency departments and preventable hospital admissions.”

Two studies stand out.

  • A 2018 systematic review in BMJ Open looked at 22 studies from 9 countries. In 18 of them, people who saw the same practitioners more consistently had lower death rates. The authors noted that all the evidence was observational.
  • A 2022 study in the British Journal of General Practice followed more than 4.5 million people in Norway. The longer someone had been with the same regular GP, the less they used after-hours services. They also had fewer acute hospital admissions.

These studies measured relationships with a regular GP, often over many years. They do not measure any single clinic or telehealth service, Betterwell included. What they show is that time and familiarity carry weight in health care. That is a good reason to keep a regular GP, whatever other care you choose.

Continuity has quieter benefits too. A sensitive topic is often easier to raise with someone you have spoken to before. Less of each appointment goes on retelling your history. And decisions feel more shared when the person you are speaking with knows how the last month went.

Can telehealth support continuity of care?

Telehealth can support continuity of care when it sits within an ongoing clinical relationship. The Medical Board of Australia says telehealth is “generally most appropriate in the context of a continuing clinical relationship with a patient.” Video and phone also take travel out of the picture. That makes regular contact easier to keep.

The same guidelines recommend “a mix of in-person and telehealth consultations” for ongoing care. They also ask practitioners to keep your usual GP informed, with your consent, when it is clinically warranted.

So telehealth belongs beside your wider care. A telehealth practitioner may focus on one goal while your GP looks after your health as a whole. With your consent, the 2 can share what each needs to know.

What happens at a monthly check-in?

A monthly check-in is a live conversation with your practitioner by video or phone. You look back at the month, review your progress and talk through what has changed. Then you agree the next step together. At Betterwell, every check-in ends with your choice to continue, adjust or conclude your care.

A Betterwell check-in follows the same steps each month.

  1. The month behind you. Your practitioner asks what went well and what was hard. Your notes from last time are already in front of them.
  2. What has changed. You cover any new symptoms, medicines, supplements or results. Changes at work or at home count too.
  3. Where you stand. Your progress is tracked in one place, so you both see the same picture.
  4. The next step. You choose to continue, adjust or conclude. Concluding is a normal outcome, and so is a referral to your GP or another practitioner.
  5. A written summary. After each check-in you receive a short summary. It sets out what you reviewed, what you decided and when you next speak.

Between check-ins, you can contact the clinic with questions. The check-in itself is where your care is reviewed and the next step is set.

We chose a monthly check-in on purpose. A month is short enough to notice change, and long enough to bring something worth discussing. It also gives you a clear moment, every month, to decide whether the care still suits you.

How to get the most from regular check-ins

Regular check-ins are most useful when you bring what has changed. Keep short notes through the month and write questions down as they arrive. Tell your practitioner about any new medicines or results. Be open about what is working and what is not, because the plan should fit your life.

A few small habits help.

  • Keep a running note. A few lines on your phone each week is enough. Note how you felt, what you tried and what got in the way.
  • Write questions down as they arrive. The important question often comes an hour after the call ends. A note means you ask it next month.
  • Share news from other providers. New results, diagnoses or medicines from your GP give your practitioner the full picture.
  • Use My Health Record if you have one. According to healthdirect, it can help some of your information follow you between services.
  • Reschedule early when you need to. Continuity depends on regular contact. A moved check-in keeps that contact going better than a missed one.

For the first appointment, read what to expect from your first telehealth consultation and how to prepare for a telehealth consultation.

Starting care with Betterwell

Care at Betterwell begins with a short assessment and a live consultation. Your practitioner reads your answers first, then speaks with you live by video. A plan is agreed only if deemed medically appropriate. Advice, monitoring, a referral or no treatment are also possible outcomes. Monthly check-ins follow from there, by video or phone.

Each step, and what a month looks like, is set out on how it works. When you are ready, start your assessment. From the first conversation on, each month builds on the last, and the next step is yours.

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