Characteristics of Focused Practice Physicians vs Other Practice Types, 1993 and 2021
| Characteristic | Comprehensive practice | Focused practice | Worked <44 days | Other practice type | No billings | Overall | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 2021 | AD | 1993 | 2021 | AD | 1993 | 2021 | AD | 1993 | 2021 | AD | 1993 | 2021 | AD | 1993 | 2021 | AD | |
| Physicians, No. (%) | 7,562 (68.1) | 9,522 (54.7) | −13.4 | 856 (7.7) | 3,351 (19.2) | 11.5 | 1,578 (14.2) | 1,433 (8.2) | −6.0 | 409 (3.7) | 1,344 (7.7) | 4.0 | 698 (6.3) | 1,763 (10.1) | 3.8 | 11,103 (100) | 17,413 (100) | 0.0 |
| Days worked, mean (SD) | 219.8 (60.0) | 195.7 (60.4) | −24.1 | 152.9 (63.1) | 155.9 (64.3) | 3.0 | 15.7 (12.5) | 19.7 (13.1) | 4.0 | 175.6 (76.7) | 162.3 (70.3) | −13.3 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.0 | 170.2 (99.5) | 151.1 (89.5) | −19.1 |
| Age, No. (%), y | ||||||||||||||||||
| <40 | 3,255 (43.0) | 2,899 (30.4) | −12.6 | 390 (45.6) | 1,427 (42.6) | −3.0 | 1,156 (73.3) | 488 (34.1) | −39.2 | 132 (32.3) | 435 (32.4) | 0.1 | 312 (44.7) | 390 (22.1) | −22.6 | 5,245 (47.2) | 5,639 (32.4) | −14.9 |
| 40-54 | 2,978 (39.4) | 3,235 (34.0) | −5.4 | 273 (31.9) | 1,187 (35.4) | 3.5 | 231 (14.6) | 322 (22.5) | 7.8 | 138 (33.7) | 364 (27.1) | −6.7 | 188 (26.9) | 348 (19.7) | −7.2 | 3,808 (34.3) | 5,456 (31.3) | −3.0 |
| 55-64 | 838 (11.1) | 2,117 (22.2) | 11.2 | 119 (13.9) | 519 (15.5) | 1.6 | 83 (5.3) | 264 (18.4) | 13.2 | 66 (16.1) | 293 (21.8) | 5.7 | 73 (10.5) | 373 (21.2) | 10.7 | 1,179 (10.6) | 3,566 (20.5) | 9.9 |
| 65-74 | 439 (5.8) | 1,064 (11.2) | 5.4 | 67 (7.8) | 181 (5.4) | −2.4 | 77 (4.9) | 274 (19.1) | 14.2 | 54 (13.2) | 184 (13.7) | 0.5 | 99 (14.2) | 468 (26.5) | 12.4 | 736 (6.6) | 2,171 (12.5) | 5.8 |
| ≥75 | 52 (0.7) | 207 (2.2) | 1.5 | 7 (0.8) | 37 (1.1) | 0.3 | 31 (2.0) | 85 (5.9) | 4.0 | 19 (4.6) | 68 (5.1) | 0.4 | 26 (3.7) | 184 (10.4) | 6.7 | 135 (1.2) | 581 (3.3) | 2.1 |
| Mean age, mean (SD), y | 43.4 (11.6) | 48.7 (13.1) | 5.3 | 43.7 (12.9) | 44.2 (11.9) | 0.6 | 36.9 (13.6) | 50.4 (15.9) | 13.5 | 48.7 (14.3) | 49.9 (14.6) | 1.3 | 45.8 (15.4) | 56.1 (15.7) | 42.9 (12.6) | 48.8 (13.9) | 5.9 | |
| Sex, No. (%) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Female | 2,135 (28.2) | 4,866 (51.1) | 22.9 | 187 (21.8) | 1,337 (39.9) | 18.1 | 493 (31.2) | 773 (53.9) | 22.7 | 81 (19.8) | 653 (48.6) | 28.8 | 228 (32.7) | 861 (48.8) | 16.2 | 3,124 (28.1) | 8,490 (48.8) | 20.6 |
| Male | 5,427 (71.8) | 4,656 (48.9) | −22.9 | 669 (78.2) | 2,014 (60.1) | −18.1 | 1,085 (68.8) | 660 (46.1) | −22.7 | 328 (80.2) | 691 (51.4) | −28.8 | 470 (67.3) | 902 (51.2) | −16.2 | 7,979 (71.9) | 8,923 (51.2) | −20.6 |
| Rurality, No. (%)a | ||||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 3,895 (51.5) | 4,760 (50.0) | −1.5 | 485 (56.7) | 1,416 (42.3) | −14.4 | 1,181 (74.8) | 755 (52.7) | −22.2 | 257 (62.8) | 661 (49.2) | −13.7 | 491 (70.3) | 944 (53.5) | −16.8 | 6,309 (56.8) | 8,536 (49.0) | −7.8 |
| 1-9 | 1,647 (21.8) | 2,811 (29.5) | 7.7 | 155 (18.1) | 879 (26.2) | 8.1 | 177 (11.2) | 308 (21.5) | 10.3 | 72 (17.6) | 247 (18.4) | 0.8 | 74 (10.6) | 346 (19.6) | 9.0 | 2,125 (19.1) | 4,591 (26.4) | 7.2 |
| 10-39 | 1,342 (17.7) | 1,509 (15.8) | −1.9 | 162 (18.9) | 705 (21.0) | 2.1 | 127 (8.0) | 205 (14.3) | 6.3 | 59 (14.4) | 221 (16.4) | 2.0 | 84 (12.0) | 266 (15.1) | 3.1 | 1,774 (16.0) | 2,906 (16.7) | 0.7 |
| ≥40 | 644 (8.5) | 424 (4.5) | −4.1 | 49 (5.7) | 337 (10.1) | 4.3 | 66 (4.2) | 152 (10.6) | 6.4 | 19 (4.6) | 204 (15.2) | 10.5 | 38 (5.4) | 186 (10.6) | 5.1 | 816 (7.3) | 1,303 (7.5) | 0.1 |
| Missing | 34 (0.4) | 18 (0.2) | −0.3 | 5 (0.6) | 14 (0.4) | −0.2 | 27 (1.7) | 13 (0.9) | −0.8 | 2 (0.5) | 11 (0.8) | 0.3 | 11 (1.6) | 21 (1.2) | −0.4 | 79 (0.7) | 77 (0.4) | −0.3 |
| Years since graduation, No. (%) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 0-5 | 1,171 (15.5) | 933 (9.8) | −5.7 | 187 (21.8) | 518 (15.5) | −6.4 | 951 (60.3) | 230 (16.1) | −44.2 | 50 (12.2) | 152 (11.3) | −0.9 | 197 (28.2) | 113 (6.4) | −21.8 | 2,556 (23.0) | 1,946 (11.2) | −11.8 |
| 6-10 | 1,311 (17.3) | 1,530 (16.1) | −1.3 | 139 (16.2) | 732 (21.8) | 5.6 | 164 (10.4) | 222 (15.5) | 5.1 | 58 (14.2) | 226 (16.8) | 2.6 | 86 (12.3) | 203 (11.5) | −0.8 | 1,758 (15.8) | 2,913 (16.7) | 0.9 |
| 11-20 | 2,353 (31.1) | 1,968 (20.7) | −10.4 | 201 (23.5) | 910 (27.2) | 3.7 | 191 (12.1) | 238 (16.6) | 4.5 | 97 (23.7) | 234 (17.4) | −6.3 | 139 (19.9) | 274 (15.5) | −4.4 | 2,981 (26.8) | 3,624 (20.8) | −6.0 |
| 21-30 | 1,600 (21.2) | 2,099 (22) | 0.9 | 162 (18.9) | 624 (18.6) | −0.3 | 101 (6.4) | 178 (12.4) | 6.0 | 84 (20.5) | 257 (19.1) | −1.4 | 97 (13.9) | 225 (12.8) | −1.1 | 2,044 (18.4) | 3,383 (19.4) | 1.0 |
| 31-40 | 771 (10.2) | 1,954 (20.5) | 10.3 | 111 (13.0) | 393 (11.7) | −1.2 | 94 (6.0) | 275 (19.2) | 13.2 | 65 (15.9) | 272 (20.2) | 4.3 | 78 (11.2) | 396 (22.5) | 11.3 | 1,119 (10.1) | 3,290 (18.9) | 8.8 |
| >40 | 356 (4.7) | 1,038 (10.9) | 6.2 | 56 (6.5) | 174 (5.2) | −1.3 | 77 (4.9) | 290 (20.2) | 15.4 | 55 (13.4) | 203 (15.1) | 1.7 | 101 (14.5) | 552 (31.3) | 16.8 | 645 (5.8) | 2,257 (13.0) | 7.2 |
| Income quintile by practice location, No. (%)b | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2,765 (36.6) | 2,820 (29.6) | −6.9 | 181 (21.1) | 993 (29.6) | 8.5 | 395 (25.0) | 409 (28.5) | 3.5 | 133 (32.5) | 399 (29.7) | −2.8 | 173 (24.8) | 526 (29.8) | 5.1 | 3,647 (32.8) | 5,147 (29.6) | −3.3 |
| 2 | 1,745 (23.1) | 2,159 (22.7) | −0.4 | 149 (17.4) | 731 (21.8) | 4.4 | 372 (23.6) | 303 (21.1) | −2.4 | 102 (24.9) | 288 (21.4) | −3.5 | 148 (21.2) | 358 (20.3) | −0.9 | 2,516 (22.7) | 3,839 (22.0) | −0.6 |
| 3 | 969 (12.8) | 1,326 (13.9) | 1.1 | 111 (13.0) | 401 (12.0) | −1.0 | 248 (15.7) | 180 (12.6) | −3.2 | 43 (10.5) | 155 (11.5) | 1.0 | 87 (12.5) | 204 (11.6) | −0.9 | 1,458 (13.1) | 2,266 (13.0) | −0.1 |
| 4 | 757 (10.0) | 1,341 (14.1) | 4.1 | 127 (14.8) | 369 (11.0) | −3.8 | 173 (11.0) | 180 (12.6) | 1.6 | 37 (9.0) | 149 (11.1) | 2.0 | 88 (12.6) | 203 (11.5) | −1.1 | 1,182 (10.6) | 2,242 (12.9) | 2.2 |
| 5 | 1,093 (14.5) | 1,077 (11.3) | −3.1 | 236 (27.6) | 585 (17.5) | −10.1 | 357 (22.6) | 202 (14.1) | −8.5 | 82 (20.0) | 156 (11.6) | −8.4 | 178 (25.5) | 213 (12.1) | −13.4 | 1,946 (17.5) | 2,233 (12.8) | −4.7 |
| Missing | 233 (3.1) | 799 (8.4) | 5.3 | 52 (6.0) | 272 (8.1) | 2.1 | 33 (2.1) | 159 (11.1) | 9.0 | 12 (2.9) | 197 (14.7) | 11.8 | 24 (3.5) | 259 (14.7) | 11.2 | 354 (3.2) | 1,686 (9.7) | 6.5 |
| Patient visits by setting, mean % (SD) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Office/home/telephone | 87.7 (15.6) | 94.8 (13) | 7.2 | 47.1 (44.2) | 34.4 (39.6) | −12.8 | 80.7 (34.2) | 73.2 (40.5) | −7.5 | 91 (18.2) | 86.2 (22.0) | −4.7 | 85.87 (32.1) | – | – | 83.6 (25.6) | 79.4 (34.7) | −4.1 |
| Hospital inpatient | 5.4 (6.6) | 2.2 (7.3) | −3.2 | 9.8 (21.7) | 21.7 (33.4) | 11.9 | 5.9 (16.4) | 9.4 (25.0) | 3.5 | 3.7 (8.8) | 5.4 (11.4) | 1.8 | 4.64 (17.7) | – | – | 5.7 (10.9) | 7.2 (19.9) | 1.5 |
| Emergency department | 3.7 (8.6) | 1.3 (7.3) | −2.4 | 37 (42.9) | 40.4 (44.6) | 3.3 | 11.8 (28.2) | 11.4 (29.6) | −0.4 | 4.4 (11.8) | 6.8 (14.7) | 2.4 | 8.45 (26.2) | – | – | 7.7 (20.5) | 10.9 (28.1) | 3.3 |
| Long-term care | 3.2 (9.7) | 1.7 (6.9) | −1.6 | 6.1 (22.3) | 3.6 (14.5) | −2.5 | 1.6 (10.3) | 6 (22.1) | 4.4 | 0.9 (6.1) | 1.6 (7.1) | 0.6 | 1.05 (7.8) | – | – | 3.1 (11.2) | 2.4 (11.1) | −0.6 |
AD = the absolute difference
Note: The AD is a percent for categorical variables, or a mean for continuous variables, and reflects the change between the first and last fiscal years of the study period.
↵a Rurality was measured using the Rurality Index of Ontario. A higher value reflects a higher degree of rurality.
↵b Income quintile of practice location is based on neighborhood income quintile with 1 as lowest and 5 as highest.