Table 4.
Influence of Practice Setting and Specialty on Time Allotted, Time Needed, Time Pressure Ratios, and Time Stress for New Patient Visits
| Time Allotted(Min) (SE) | Time Needed(Min) (SE) | Time Pressure Ratio(SE) | Percent Time Stressed(SE) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMOs (n) | ||||
| Primary care | ||||
| Family practice (34) | 29.4 (1.6) | 39.8 (2.5) | 41% (8.6) | 83 (9.1) |
| General internal medicine (49) | 34.2 (2.8) | 41.1 (2.4) | 30% (10.0) | 53 (12.0) |
| General pediatrics (89) | 24.3 (2.5) | 28.1 (2.1) | 32% (7.8) | 55 (9.4) |
| Subspecialty | ||||
| Internal medicine subspecialty (30) | 47.8 (3.3) | 51.2 (2.9) | 16% (6.3) | 58 (16.5) |
| Pediatric subspecialty (21) | 23.0 (2.5) | 28.4 (2.3) | 32% (10.7) | 45 (13.4) |
| Small groups (n) | ||||
| Primary care | ||||
| Family practice (197) | 35.4 (1.2)* | 41.9 (1.4) | 24% (3.4) | 54 (4.6)* |
| General internal medicine (131) | 41.6 (1.6) | 46.0 (1.4) | 15% (3.1) | 40 (6.1) |
| General pediatrics (216) | 21.1 (0.7) | 26.2 (1.1) | 31% (4.2) | 55 (5.3) |
| Subspecialty | ||||
| Internal medicine subspecialty (142) | 48.5 (1.9) | 54.8 (1.8) | 23% (6.0) | 34 (5.6) |
| Pediatric subspecialty (92) | 40.2 (3.5)* | 44.0 (3.3)* | 11% (4.5) | 32 (7.6) |
| Large multispecialty groups (n) | ||||
| Primary care | ||||
| Family practice (66) | 30.5 (1.1) | 39.9 (1.8) | 35% (7.0) | 60 (8.6) |
| General internal medicine (74) | 38.8 (2.7) | 41.4 (2.5) | 12% (5.2) | 37 (8.6) |
| General pediatrics (69) | 24.5 (2.8) | 29.3 (2.8) | 29% (12.8) | 40 (9.4) |
| Subspecialty | ||||
| Internal medicine subspecialty (71) | 48.8 (2.2) | 51.5 (2.5) | 7% (2.8) | 26 (7.7) |
| Pediatric subspecialty (24) | 42.6 (8.2) | 48.1 (8.6) | 18% (10.5) | 59 (14.4) |
*
P < .05, comparing each of 5 specialities in HMOs to corresponding specialties in other settings, using Bonferroni-corrected P values.