Doctors' visits lasting longer, study says

Patients and doctors may think doctors' visits are shrinking, as dwindling numbers of primary care physicians are pressured to do more. But not only are appointments lasting a little longer, Boston researchers say, their quality is also higher than a decade ago.

A team from the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System analyzed national data gathered from 1997 through 2005. They tracked how long people spent with their doctors and whether recommended screening or counseling took place. They compared certain medical conditions to see if there were differences in time and quality of care. Prescriptions were reviewed to see if they complied with national guidelines.

At the beginning of the study period, overall visits averaged 18 minutes. Almost 10 years later, the average time increased to 20.8 minutes. Some visits grew more than others: general medical exams lasted 3.4 minutes longer, diabetes visits were 4.2 minutes longer, hypertension visits were 3.7 minutes longer, and visits for joint diseases were 5.9 minutes longer.

Counseling or screening -- two factors considered signs of high quality -- lengthened the visits by 2.6 to 4.2 minutes, the study found. Providing appropriate medications did not take more time. Together, all three were more likely to occur later in the study period than earlier.

"We found no evidence for the commonly held belief that physicians are spending less time with their patients or that quality of care has diminished," the authors write in the Archives of Internal Medicine, also noting that the number of primary care visits rose 10 percent during the study period. "In fact, patients spent more time with their primary care physicians during office visits in 2005 than they did almost a decade earlier, and overall they received better care."