Table 1. Patient and Appointment Characteristics, by Appointment Order.
| Characteristic | Appointment Order, No. (%)a | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st to 6th (n = 274 408) | 7th to 12th (n = 227 211) | 13th to 21st (n = 176 700) | |
| Age category, y | |||
| 25-44 | 37 315 (13.6) | 32 002 (14.1) | 28 999 (16.4) |
| 45-64 | 116 785 (42.6) | 89 146 (39.2) | 76 806 (43.5) |
| ≥65 | 120 308 (43.8) | 106 063 (46.7) | 70 895 (40.1) |
| Female | 160 672 (58.6) | 145 374 (64.0) | 110 504 (62.5) |
| Insurance status | |||
| Commercial | 131 986 (48.1) | 96 371 (42.4) | 86 483 (48.9) |
| Medicare | 111 354 (40.6) | 99 434 (43.8) | 66 231 (37.5) |
| Medicaid | 15 332 (5.6) | 15 310 (6.7) | 11 648 (6.6) |
| Medicare plus Medicaid | 10 463 (3.8) | 11 356 (5.0) | 8267 (4.7) |
| Uninsured | 3544 (1.3) | 3028 (1.3) | 2647 (1.5) |
| Other payer | 1729 (0.6) | 1712 (0.8) | 1424 (0.8) |
| Pain categoryb | |||
| Back | 84 666 (30.9) | 72 660 (32.0) | 56 861 (32.2) |
| Joint | 133 991 (48.8) | 109 433 (48.2) | 82 823 (46.9) |
| Musculoskeletal | 76 131 (27.7) | 63 243 (27.8) | 50 233 (28.4) |
| Migraine | 17 447 (6.4) | 14 053 (6.2) | 11 648 (6.6) |
| Other | 11 812 (4.3) | 12 027 (5.3) | 9322 (5.3) |
| Chronic condition | |||
| 0 | 82 564 (30.1) | 76 643 (33.7) | 65 706 (37.2) |
| 1 | 74 972 (27.3) | 62 134 (27.3) | 48 603 (27.5) |
| ≥2 | 116 872 (42.6) | 88 434 (38.9) | 62 391 (35.3) |
| Scheduled duration, min | |||
| 10 | 18 556 (6.8) | 15 852 (7.0) | 14 168 (8.0) |
| 15 | 187 929 (68.5) | 156 913 (69.1) | 126 983 (71.9) |
| 20 | 36 898 (13.4) | 31 023 (13.7) | 21 335 (12.1) |
| 30 | 31 025 (11.3) | 23 423 (10.3) | 14 214 (8.0) |
a
Appointment order was determined on the basis of the observed start time of each appointment within each physician’s workday. P values from 1-way analyses of variance are less than .01.
b
Percentages may not sum to 100, because patients presented with multiple types of pain.