Primary care visits: how many doctors do people see?

The essence of primary care reform is the creation of a formal relationship between a physician provider and a patient. The idea is that a patient will sign on with a particular provider who will then take medical responsibility for accessibility, quality of care and continuity of care. However, various aspects of physician remuneration, specifically negation, are perceived as a disincentive for physicians. Negation refers to the deduction of a specified amount from the contracted physician if a patient sees another family physician or general practitioner not associated with their practice. How often and to what extent patients see different family physicians or general practitioners (FPs/GPs) becomes an important question in the debate.