The first year of an urban family practice

The first year of an urban based family practice partnership, composed of one male and one female physician, was followed to determine disease diagnosis distribution and frequency, patient residence, and types and numbers of office procedures and laboratory tests. The diagnosis distribution and frequency were compared to studies conducted in other regions of the nation. Each partner's practice was analyzed separately to assess whether there were differences in their practices dependent on the sex of the provider. During the year, the physicians had 3,059 patient visits and recorded 4,711 problems. In all, 773 office procedures were performed; the most common were related to health maintenance. The 1,554 laboratory tests performed also showed a concentration for the purpose of health screening. This practice was less active in the areas of acute trauma and obstetrics than other reported studies. Few differences in the individual practices of the male and female physicians were noted. Categorizing the problems according to the revised diagnostic clusters demonstrates the usefulness of that system. In spite of the urban nature of the practice, a high percentage of patients using the family practice office lived in the surrounding neighborhood.