Major care physicians (PCPs) spend a median of 61.8 hours per week caring for a affected person panel, in keeping with a research revealed on-line Oct. 21 within the Annals of Inner Medication.
Lisa S. Rotenstein, M.D., from the College of California, San Francisco, and colleagues carried out a cross-sectional, observational research to estimate the yearly work effort concerned for PCPs in caring for a affected person panel in 33 clinics within the Mass Normal Brigham well being system. Members included 406 PCPs who delivered take care of a minimum of 9 months in 2021.
The researchers discovered that for a 1.0-clinical full-time-equivalent doctor assuming a 46-week work yr, median work effort was 2,844.3 yearly hours or 61.8 weekly hours for a full-time PCP, translating to a median of 1.7 hours/affected person/yr.
On common, part-time PCPs spent extra time per affected person than full-time PCPs. Associations with larger yearly PCP time expenditure per affected person have been seen for affected person medical recommendation request quantity and sure panel traits, together with older common age, medical complexity, and share of sufferers with Medicaid.
“Our median estimates of 2,844 yearly and 62 weekly hours exceed prior estimates of a 43-hour work week for family physicians and a 51-hour work week for PCPs in general,” the authors write. “This is potentially due to net new work introduced by the EHR (electronic health record) over the past decade and a half.”
Extra data:
Lisa S. Rotenstein et al, Major Care Doctor Time Spent in Affected person Care: An Observational Research Utilizing Digital Well being Document Logs, Annals of Inner Medication (2025). DOI: 10.7326/annals-25-01412
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Major care physicians spend 61.8 hours/week caring for affected person panel, in keeping with research (2025, October 24)
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