What do family physicians in a prepaid group do in their offices?

Each family physician at the Permanente Group of San Diego was observed for one half-day. As with two earlier time studies, the time spent with each patient was tabulated to show the number of minutes used in each of the usual activity categories that are encompassed in a patient encounter. Previously, similar studies had been carried out with rural practitioners in Missouri (1965) and rural and urban physicians in New Zealand (1975). The Missouri physicians practicing in pre-Medicaid days spent less time doing administrative work than their counterparts in this study, but appreciably more time in treatment and preventive activities. The time utilization of the physicians in prepaid groups was remarkably similar to that of the physicians in the fee-for-service system in New Zealand.