PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - David Margolius
AU  - Douglas Gunzler
AU  - Michael Hopkins
AU  - Kathryn Teng
TI  - Panel Size, Clinician Time in Clinic, and Access to Appointments
AID  - 10.1370/afm.2313
DP  - 2018 Nov 01
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 546--548
VI  - 16
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/6/546.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/6/546.full
SO  - Ann Fam Med2018 Nov 01; 16
AB  - Large panel sizes are often held responsible for worse access to appointments in primary care. We evaluated the relationship between appointment backlog, panel size, and primary care clinician time in clinic, using Spearman correlation and multiple regression in a retrospective analysis. We found no independent association between panel size and days until third next available appointment, but larger panel size adjusted for clinician time in clinic was associated with worse access. Less clinician time in clinic was independently associated with longer backlogs for appointments. Our findings suggest that patients of part-time clinicians may be less likely to obtain timely appointments than patients of fulltime clinicians, regardless of panel size.