Physicians: So Much to Do, So Little Time

Despite More Time Spent on Patient Care, More Doctors Bemoan Lack of Time with Patients

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Even though physicians dedicated roughly two additional hours per week to patient care in 2001 compared with 1997, a growing number reported that they lacked adequate time with their patients.

The share of physician work hours devoted to direct patient care activities rose from 81 percent in 1997 to 86 percent in 2001. Yet the proportion of physicians who said they had insufficient time with patients climbed from 28 percent in 1997 to a higher level by 2001.

Several factors may explain why more physicians feel squeezed for time despite working longer hours: a wider range of diagnostic and treatment options, managed care plans' relaxation of strict utilization controls, patients living longer with chronic diseases that demand more intricate coordination among multiple providers, and an expanding roster of recommended preventive services, the study observed.

"As the practice of medicine grows more complex, physicians may be frustrated because they have too much to discuss with their patients in too little time," said Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., president of HSC, a nonpartisan policy research organization funded exclusively by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The detailed findings appear in a new HSC Tracking Report—So Much to Do, So Little Time: Physician Capacity Constraints, 1997-2001. The analysis draws on data from HSC's Community Tracking Study nationally representative Physician and Household Surveys.

Additional indicators of strained physician capacity include patients facing longer appointment wait times and a decline in the share of physicians willing to accept all new patients. Nonetheless, the overall physician supply grew modestly, more medical practices brought on nurse practitioners and other non-physician clinicians, and the average number of patient visits per doctor increased.

Sources and Further Reading

AHRQ — National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report — Federal data on health care access and quality.

Kaiser Family Foundation — Uninsured — Data on uninsured populations and access barriers.

Census Bureau — Health Insurance Coverage — Population-level insurance coverage statistics.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — Health policy research and programs.

Commonwealth Fund — Research on health care access and equity.