Primary care doctors are under increasing pressure to be more efficient, but it is not clear if this pressure has affected the length or quality of primary care. In the November 9, 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers report that primary care visits have actually gotten longer.

Investigators from the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and their colleagues conducted an analysis of primary care visits by adults 18 years or older in order to describe changes in the duration of adult primary care visits between 1997 and 2005. The investigators also wanted to determine whether quality of care was associated with the duration of the primary care visit. They found that the number of adult primary care visits increased by approximately 10 percent during the study period. They also found that the average primary care visit time increased from 18.0 to 20.8 minutes and quality of care seemed to increase as well.

Although the investigators found a relationship between the duration of the primary care visit and the quality of the care provided, the association was modest. Counseling and screening seemed to increase primary care visit time, but it took not extra time for primary care practitioners to check that patients were taking the right medicines. Based on these findings, the pressure to be more efficient has not decreased primary care visit duration or quality.

Source:

Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(20):1866-1872.