Shocker: Doctor Visits Are Getting Longer

The standard narrative of contemporary medicine tells us that doctor visits with patients are getting shorter and shorter, as docs struggle with rising overhead and pressure to be more efficient.

But as it turns out, the amount of time primary-care docs spend with each patient actually increased a little bit between 1997 and 2005, according to an analysis published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

This may have been driven in part by the aging population, because older people tend to be sicker and require more complex treatment. But even within each age group, the average time docs spent with patients increased, the authors said.

Another possible driver, they suggest, is an increased focus on having patients participate in making decisions about their care — it takes a longer to explain things to patients and seek their input than simply to tell them what to do.

Overall, the average length of time the patient spent with the doctor rose from 18 minutes to 21 minutes.

The findings were based on data from a detailed survey of office-based primary-care docs that’s funded by the federal government and conducted at regular intervals.

Bonus Time: A separate study, also published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that the percentage of emergency-room patients seen by a doctor within the recommended triage time declined between 1997 and 2006.

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