title: Visit length in pediatric primary care: lessons from a pilot study.
abstract: As business drivers create pressure to see more patients in a given period, there is no reliable guidance regarding the optimal allocation of resources in ambulatory visits. Many pediatric primary clinics set appointment lengths in increments of "five minutes." Defining the appointment lengths for potentially longer visits by arbitrary increments (e.g., twice the time for an acute visit) is a common "experiential" scheme. However, how much additional time is really needed if the patient is new to practice or when the visit is arranged for preventive services is unknown. Identifying the misallocation of clinic resources is fundamental because misallocation reduces access for patients and increases practice costs. In this study, using a time-motion approach, we examined the characteristics of 372 visits in a pediatric primary care clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, 3243 E. Murdock, Suite 402, Wichita, KS 67208, USA. huner@kumc.edu
authors.forename: Hasmet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uner
authors.forename: Farnaz Ghazi
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Nezami
authors.forename: Mehmet Bayram
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Fanglong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wellner
authors.forename: Douglas D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Bradham
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009819:Office Visits; D010372:Pediatrics; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011216:Practice Management, Medical; D011320:Primary Health Care; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D014481:United States