Provision of Primary Care Under Reduced Visit Time Pressures

Is reduced time pressure in primary care visits associated with care pattern changes in care comprehensiveness and quality?In this cross-sectional study of 191 269 primary care visits across 311 physicians in an integrated health system, reduced time pressure visits included more diagnoses documented, more new prescriptions prescribed, and more diagnostic testing and similar preventive care (eg, immunizations) compared with regular time pressure visits. Estimated effects on diagnosis counts and testing were larger for patients with multiple chronic conditions.Results of this study suggest that reducing time pressure in primary care may modestly increase in the scope of issues addressed, particularly for patients with medical complexity.

Corresponding Author: Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH, Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont St, BC3-2M, Boston, MA 02120 (iganguli@bwh.harvard.edu).

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