Table 2.
Summary of participating clinic practice information
| CLINIC TYPE | TOTAL NO. OF PATIENTS | NO. OF CLINICS | NO. OF PHYSICIANS | AVERAGE FTE HOURS* | AVERAGE PANEL SIZE† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee for service | |||||
| • Rural | 18 716 | 2 | 23 | 6.3 | 1475 |
| • Urban | 10 955 | 2 | 11 | 4.0 | 1327 |
| Salaried | |||||
| • Rural | 5414 | 5 | 11 | 1.7 | 683 |
| • Urban | 19 009 | 6 | 48 | 5.8 | 555 |
| Salaried residency training clinics | |||||
| • Urban | 10 693 | 3 | 25 | 4.3 | 799 |
FTE—full-time equivalent.
*
The FTE hours were totaled per clinic, as many of the clinics in this study had a moderate or large amount of cross-coverage relating to patient care in the 18 months studied. The FTE hours were calculated as the amount of time each physician spent providing clinical care in a typical week. A value of 0.1 per half-day for 1 primary care provider was assigned, meaning a full-time 5-day work week equaled 1.0.
†
Panel size was determined for each clinic and calculated by the following formula: total no. of active patients per clinic divided by the total FTE hours worked per clinic.