Time Spent on Activities Out of the Examination Room (N = 27 Family Physicians)
| Activity | Minutes per Day Mean ± SD (Median) | Medical Time Out of Examination Room % | Nonmedical Time Out of Examination Room % | Total Time in Office % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *A collection of low-frequency nonmedical activities (eg, nonmedical reading, nonmedical patient conversation, sales representative telephone calls, adjusting thermostat, research, faxing, sitting at desk, washing laboratory coat, nonmedical computer work, waiting for patient to arrive at office, moving furniture, searching for personal digital assistant, touring the site with student, typing a nonmedical letter, washing hands before lunch). | ||||
| Medical documentation | ||||
| Charting | 32.9 ± 28.0 (24) | 28.8 | — | 6.7 |
| Dictating | 23.4 ± 19.2 (25) | 20.5 | — | 4.8 |
| Medical activities | ||||
| Medical reading and writing | 18.5 ± 14.8 (13) | 16.2 | — | 3.8 |
| Medical conversations with nurse/staff | 16.1 ± 8.0 (14) | 14.1 | — | 3.3 |
| Medical telephone calls | 15.0 ± 13.2 (11) | 13.1 | — | 3.1 |
| Medical conversations with Physicians | 2.9 ± 3.9 (1) | 2.5 | — | 0.6 |
| Medical conversations with patient or patient’s family | 2.6 ± 2.6 (2) | 2.3 | — | 0.5 |
| Finding or distributing drug samples to patients | 1.6 ± 3.9 (0) | 1.4 | — | 0.3 |
| Laboratory work | 1.1 ± 4.1 (0) | 1.1 | — | 0.2 |
| Nonmedical activities | ||||
| Personal activities | 30.4 ± 30.4 (22) | — | 39.7 | 6.2 |
| Sales representative meetings | 8.5 ± 12.6 (3) | — | 11.1 | 1.7 |
| Nonmedical conversations with nurse/staff | 7.5 ± 7.7 (5) | — | 9.8 | 1.5 |
| Nonmedical telephone calls | 3.3 ± 4.5 (2) | — | 4.3 | 0.7 |
| Nonmedical conversations with physicians | 3.0 ± 5.7 (0) | — | 3.9 | 0.6 |
| Teaching | 4.8 ± 6.2 (2) | — | 6.3 | 1.0 |
| 4.6 ± 7.2 (2) | — | 6.0 | 0.9 | |
| Staff meetings | 2.2 ± 11.5 (0) | — | 2.9 | 0.5 |
| Other nonmedical* | 12.1 ± 18.7 (7) | — | 15.8 | 2.5 |
| Minutes per Day Mean ± SD | Minutes per Day Mean ± SD | |||
| Overall time in office | ||||
| Out of examination room | 188.7 ± 59.0 (183) | 114.2 ± 47.4 | 76.5 ± 45.1 | 39 |
| Inside examination room | 299.7 ± 81.9 (303) | 299.7 ± 81.9 | — | 61 |
| Total | 488.4 ± 88.2 (505) | — | — | 100 |