Physician Time Use During 21 Randomly Selected Patient Care Days
| Time Use Categories and Activities | Hours Mean (SD) | Percent of Total Workday |
|---|---|---|
| *Activities included in the paperwork time category. | ||
| Total workday | 8.6 (1.82) | 100.0 |
| Face-to-face patient care | 4.72 (1.19) | 54.9 |
| Visit-specific work outside the examination room | 1.25 (0.92) | 14.5 |
| Chart (reviewing, writing, or dictating notes) | 0.52 (0.62) | 6.0 |
| Completing encounter form, billing sheet* | 0.14 (0.23) | 1.6 |
| Other (eg, talking with patient in hallway, waiting for patient to undress or dress) | 0.13 (0.10) | 1.5 |
| Arranging for tests or consultations* | 0.11 (0.09) | 1.3 |
| Writing prescription | 0.10 (0.15) | 1.2 |
| Getting materials (equipment, preparing for procedure, patient education) | 0.07 (0.06) | 0.8 |
| Consultation with other physician or staff | 0.06 (0.10) | 0.7 |
| Interpreting laboratory work or radiographs | 0.04 (0.06) | 0.5 |
| Looking up medical information | 0.03 (0.07) | 0.3 |
| Performing laboratory work | 0.02 (0.03) | 0.2 |
| Completing forms (disability, school physical, etc)* | 0.01 (0.01) | 0.1 |
| Finding missing or pending laboratory information, radiographs, charts | 0.01 (0.03) | 0.1 |
| Looking up allowed referrals or formulary options* | <0.01 (0.01) | 0.05 |
| Talking with insurance company regarding patient; completing forms* | <0.01 (0.01) | 0.04 |
| Work outside the examination room related to care of patients not currently being seen | 1.97 (1.08) | 22.9 |
| Chart (reviewing, writing, or dictating notes) | 0.69 (0.64) | 8.0 |
| Telephone calls from/to patients, family members | 0.41 (0.73) | 4.8 |
| Reviewing laboratory results, radiographs, patient letters | 0.24 (0.36) | 2.8 |
| Fielding questions from staff about patient calls, laboratory results, etc | 0.16 (0.17) | 1.9 |
| Checking schedule | 0.16 (0.25) | 1.9 |
| Other (eg, pharmacy calls, scheduling patient, instructing nurse to provide educational materials to patient) | 0.11 (0.23) | 1.3 |
| Consulting with other physicians about patients | 0.09 (0.11) | 1.0 |
| Completing forms (disability, insurance, school physical, etc)* | 0.03 (0.06) | 0.3 |
| Writing prescriptions | 0.02 (0.05) | 0.2 |
| Talking with insurance company regarding patient; completing forms* | 0.01 (0.04) | 0.1 |
| Finding missing or pending laboratory information, radiographs, charts | <0.01 (0.02) | 0.07 |
| Responding to patients’ questions when they come in for laboratory or nurse visit | <0.01 (0.01) | 0.07 |
| Arranging for tests or consultations* | <0.01 (0.02) | 0.06 |
| Looking up medical information | <0.01 (0.01) | 0.06 |
| Looking up allowed referrals or formulary options* | <0.01 (0.01) | 0.03 |
| Other work outside the examination room | ||
| Administration | 0.33 (0.35) | 3.8 |
| Office management and personal issues | 0.12 (0.18) | 1.4 |
| Other | 0.07 (0.16) | 0.8 |
| Hospital committees and meetings | 0.06 (0.26) | 0.7 |
| Reading mail or e-mail | 0.04 (0.05) | 0.5 |
| Visits from sales representatives | 0.03 (0.08) | 0.3 |
| Scheduling office hours and call coverage | 0.01 (0.02) | 0.1 |
| Practice meetings | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.00 |
| Academic activities | 0.21 (0.58) | 2.4 |
| Teaching (lecture, seminar, etc, outside of patient care) | 0.09 (0.41) | 1.0 |
| Precepting (teaching during patient care) | 0.05 (0.05) | 0.7 |
| Other | 0.04 (0.08) | 0.5 |
| Continuing medical education, conferences | 0.02 (0.11) | 0.2 |
| Research | <0.01 (0.02) | 0.03 |
| Patient care in other settings | 0.09 (0.30) | 1.0 |
| Hospital rounds | 0.07 (0.24) | 0.8 |
| Travel time | 0.02 (0.06) | 0.2 |
| Home visits | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.00 |
| Nursing home rounds | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.00 |
| Other | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.00 |
| Other activities | 0.03 (0.08) | 0.3 |