List size and patient contact in general medical practice

Area of Science:

• General Practice
• Healthcare Management
• Primary Care Medicine

Background:

• Patient list size is a key factor influencing general practitioner workload and practice dynamics.
• Understanding the relationship between patient volume and consultation patterns is crucial for healthcare resource allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between the number of registered patients (list size) and general practitioners' (GPs) consultation activities.
• To analyze how list size affects the total number of consultations, time spent with patients, and consultation rate.

Main Methods:

• Data collected from 199 general practitioners over representative recording days.
• Statistical analysis of correlations between patient list size and consultation metrics.

Main Results:

• A positive correlation was observed between patient list size and the total number of consultations and time spent in patient contact.
• A negative correlation was found between patient list size and consultation rate, and time spent per patient.
• Significant variation existed among GPs, especially those with smaller patient lists.

Conclusions:

• While larger patient lists lead to more overall activity, they reduce the time available for each patient.
• Findings highlight the nuanced impact of patient list size on the quality of care and suggest caution regarding list size reductions.