ArticleBMC health services research2008
Estimated time spent on preventive services by primary care physicians.
Article in BMC health services research, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Mobile phone messaging for preventive health care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Visit Planning Using a Waiting Room Health IT Tool: The Aligning Patients and Providers Randomized Controlled Trial.Annals of family medicine · 2019Trial
- Design and rationale of the STRIVE trial to improve cardiometabolic health among children and families.Contemporary clinical trials · 2016Trial
- Pre-Visit Prioritization for complex patients with diabetes: Randomized trial design and implementation within an integrated health care system.Contemporary clinical trials · 2016Trial
- Improving herpes zoster vaccination rates through use of a clinical pharmacist and a personal health record.The American journal of medicine · 2013Trial
- A randomized trial of an intervention to improve use and adherence to effective coronary heart disease prevention strategies.BMC health services research · 2011Trial
- LDL-cholesterol distance to target: A practical tool for guiding lipid-lowering treatment decisions.Atherosclerosis plus · 2026Review
- Where U.S. Women Receive Primary Care: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Weight status underestimation and weight management goals among adults in the rural South of the United States.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2025Article
- Patient preferences for the design of a pharmacy-based colorectal cancer screening program.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2023Article
- A Practical Approach to Disease Risk Prediction: Focus on High-Risk Patients via Highest-Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine · 2023Article
- Physician-Reported Barriers to Osteoporosis Screening: A Nationwide Survey.Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists · 2023Article
- Clinical encounter length and initiation of statin therapy for primary prevention among adults with elevated atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk.American journal of preventive cardiology · 2023Article
- Nutritional Knowledge, Confidence, Attitudes towards Nutritional Care and Nutrition Counselling Practice among General Practitioners.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- COVID-19 and inequities in colorectal and cervical cancer screening and diagnosis in Washington State.Cancer medicine · 2022Article
- Priorities among effective clinical preventive services in British Columbia, Canada.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Experience of nutritional counselling in a nutritional programme in HIV care in the Tigray region of Ethiopia using the socio-ecological model.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2021Article
- Interest, Resources, and Preferences for Weight Loss Programs among Primary Care Patients with Obesity.Patient education and counseling · 2020Article
- Assessment of Physician Priorities in Delivery of Preventive Care.JAMA network open · 2020Article
- Impact of family physicians on cervical cancer screening: cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey in a region of southern Poland.BMJ open · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDelivery of preventive health services in primary care is lacking. One of the main barriers is lack of time. We estimated the amount of time primary care physicians spend on important preventive health services.
methodsWe analyzed a large dataset of primary care (family and internal medicine) visits using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (2001-4); analyses were conducted 2007-8. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate the amount of time spent delivering each preventive service, controlling for demographic covariates.
resultsPreventive visits were longer than chronic care visits (M = 22.4, SD = 11.8, M = 18.9, SD = 9.2, respectively). New patients required more time from physicians. Services on which physicians spent relatively more time were prostate specific antigen (PSA), cholesterol, Papanicolaou (Pap) smear, mammography, exercise counseling, and blood pressure. Physicians spent less time than recommended on two "A" rated ("good evidence") services, tobacco cessation and Pap smear (in preventive visits), and one "B" rated ("at least fair evidence") service, nutrition counseling. Physicians spent substantial time on two services that have an "I" rating ("inconclusive evidence of effectiveness"), PSA and exercise counseling.
conclusionEven with limited time, physicians address many of the "A" rated services adequately. However, they may be spending less time than recommended for important services, especially smoking cessation, Pap smear, and nutrition counseling. Future research is needed to understand how physicians decide how to allocate their time to address preventive health.
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