Conceptualising and measuring continuity in team-based primary care: a scoping review

This project is a scoping review of continuity of care in team-based primary care models. Continuity of care is a core attribute of high-quality primary care, but its conceptualisation and measurement may be changing as primary care increasingly shifts from individual physician–patient relationships to team-based models. This shift is driven by system-level pressures such as increasing demand for access, workforce shortages and turnover, growing patient complexity, and administrative burden. The review will focus on primary care models in which teams of at least two clinicians share longitudinal responsibility for a defined patient panel, including models such as teamlets and micro-teams. The objectives are to characterise the structure and composition of these models; map how continuity of care is conceptualised, operationalised, and measured; identify inconsistencies and overlaps in terminology; and explore whether the findings support development of a more unified conceptual framework for continuity in team-based primary care. The review will follow Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews and be reported in accordance with PRISMA-ScR. Studies will be identified from PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, and grey literature sources, with reference list searching for additional records. Eligible sources will include all study types in English or Chinese that examine continuity of care in relevant team-based primary care settings. Extracted data will be synthesised using descriptive numerical analysis and narrative summary. Expected outcomes include a clearer mapping of team-based primary care structures, a synthesis of continuity concepts and measures used in the literature, and identification of gaps and terminology inconsistencies to inform future research and conceptual development.