Journal of Nephrology & Therapeutics

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Co-Located Specialty Care Within Primary Care Practice Settings

Abstract

Zahra Lotfi* and Reshma Lofti

Specialist co-location in primary care has been proposed as a strategy to reduce care fragmentation, inefficiency, and cost. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the impact of co-located specialty care models in primary care settings. Methods: Through February 2015, Ovid Medline In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus were searched. A manual search of the bibliographies of the included studies was carried out. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies reporting on the following outcomes in physically co-located specialties in primary care were included: patient satisfaction; provider satisfaction; health care access and utilization; clinical outcomes; and costs.