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Study: Family medicine visits more complex than psychiatry, cardiology
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 17, 2011
Outpatient visits to family physicians have a greater complexity than those to cardiologists and psychiatrists, according to a study in the January/February issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
Researchers with the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Differences in complexity were minimal for total encounters and without adjustment for visit duration. When time was taken into account, the complexity of care provided per hour by a general practice or family physician was 33% greater than by a cardiologist. The number was 500% when family physicians were compared with psychiatrists.
The authors suggest that complexity may be a factor in lower rates of completion of quality of care measurements by family physicians.
The study is available online (link)
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/01/17/bibf0117.htm.
