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Research ArticleOriginal Research

Time Spent in Face-to-Face Patient Care and Work Outside the Examination Room

Andrew Gottschalk and Susan A. Flocke
The Annals of Family Medicine November 2005, 3 (6) 488-493; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.404
Andrew Gottschalk
BS
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Susan A. Flocke
PhD
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  • administration, the ruin of medicine
    Charles Lapp
    Published on: 13 January 2006
  • Bravo on addressing an important issue
    John W Beasley
    Published on: 18 December 2005
  • Published on: (13 January 2006)
    Page navigation anchor for administration, the ruin of medicine
    administration, the ruin of medicine
    • Charles Lapp, Sterling Hts. MI usa

    Ultimately the working man pays for all "benefits" out of his wages. There was a 3$ cash OV when I started, now the Ov is 100$ with paperwork++ each layer of administration costs 30%. Jobs are going elsewhere and care is becoming less available. More time and money goes to administration. All business should follow the K.I.S.S. principle keep it simple stupid.

    Competing interests:   None declared

    Competing Interests: None declared.
  • Published on: (18 December 2005)
    Page navigation anchor for Bravo on addressing an important issue
    Bravo on addressing an important issue
    • John W Beasley, Madison, WI

    I applaud Gottschalk and Flocke for continuing to "open the black box" of primary care. This helps us both to recognize the realities of our work -- and to force us to be more accurate (and perhaps less self- serving) in our statements about our work such as the fact that we spend about 13 rather than about 19 minutes in face to face contact.

    Like all good research, more questions are raised by the work which...

    Show More

    I applaud Gottschalk and Flocke for continuing to "open the black box" of primary care. This helps us both to recognize the realities of our work -- and to force us to be more accurate (and perhaps less self- serving) in our statements about our work such as the fact that we spend about 13 rather than about 19 minutes in face to face contact.

    Like all good research, more questions are raised by the work which has been done. For example, further analysis of how the realtionship of the time spent in and outside the room varies with respect to the number and complexity of the patient's problems would be of interest. The number of minutes per problem would be one potential measure.

    Another question would be the relationship of the various measure to different uses of technology. For example, a study of the impact of EMR's on the time spent inside and outside the examination room is critically needed. The current evidence is that while physicians using EMR's feel that the quality of their medical records is better, that there are no other differences in time pressure and perhaps a slight negative impact on quality of professional work life. (1)

    Finally, it would be very useful to have some experimental exploration of strategies to make the work more efficient such as dictating in the presence of the patient.(2)

    1. Karsh BT, Beasley JW, Hagenauer ME. Are electronic medical records associated with improved perceptions of the quality of medical records, working conditions, or quality of working life? Behaviour & Information Technology 2004;23: 327-335.

    2. Sutherland JE, Egbert N, Gjerde CL, Pint-Burke T, Franklin C, Walker D. Arch Fam Med 1998;7:281-284

    Competing interests:   None declared

    Show Less
    Competing Interests: None declared.
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The Annals of Family Medicine: 3 (6)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 3 (6)
Vol. 3, Issue 6
1 Nov 2005
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Time Spent in Face-to-Face Patient Care and Work Outside the Examination Room
Andrew Gottschalk, Susan A. Flocke
The Annals of Family Medicine Nov 2005, 3 (6) 488-493; DOI: 10.1370/afm.404

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Time Spent in Face-to-Face Patient Care and Work Outside the Examination Room
Andrew Gottschalk, Susan A. Flocke
The Annals of Family Medicine Nov 2005, 3 (6) 488-493; DOI: 10.1370/afm.404
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