Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan. 12, 2009 UTMB's Gulshan Sharma, Jean Freeman, Dong Zhang and James S. Goodwin examined the continuity of care across transitions, such as from a home to a hospital, and how it might affect appropriate medical management. Their conclusion: Outpatient-to-inpatient continuity of care declined during the 1990s and early 2000s. Patients with terminal lung cancer who experienced outpatient-to-inpatient continuity of care were less likely to spend time in the ICU before death.