Continuity of Outpatient Care in Elderly Men-Reply

In Reply.— We share the curiosity expressed by Drs Flynn and Kiel about how provider continuity accounts for significant differences in duration of hospitalization in our study. However, we do not share their concern that the finding was an artifact caused by some unrecognized difference in the two large groups of prospectively randomized patients that made up our study population. Table 2, which demonstrated comparability of patients prior to the analysisperiod of the study, was shortened prior to publication. An appended Table 2 is published in this letter. In a separate manuscript, currently in preparation, we demonstrate that broad descriptions that profile patient health status forecast subsequent use of service better than disease diagnoses. Table 2 demonstrated that health status measures, as well as diagnoses, were comparable in both groups prior to the analysis period of the study.