Lower fragmentation of coordination in primary care is associated with lower prescribing drug costs—lessons from chronic illness care in Hungary

Improving patient care coordination is critical for achieving better health outcome measures at reduced cost. However, assessing the results of patient care coordination at system level is lacking. In this report, based on administrative healthcare data, a provider-level care coordination measure is developed to assess the function of primary care at system level. In a sample of 31 070 patients with diabetes we find that the type of collaborative relationship general practitioners build up with specialists is associated with prescription drug costs. Regulating access to secondary care might result in cost savings through improved care coordination.