ArticleThe American journal of managed care2015
Opportunity costs of ambulatory medical care in the United States.
Article in The American journal of managed care, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
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- The Application of Preventive Medicine in the Future Digital Health Era.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Review
- Estimating Patient and Family Costs and CO2 Emissions for Telehealth and In-Person Health Care Appointments in British Columbia, Canada: Geospatial Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Access to Pediatric Asthma Specialty Care: A Survey and Geospatial Analysis Across a Rural State.Journal of asthma and allergy · 2025Article
- Mobile health teleconsultation and telemedicine in operating outpatient departments during COVID-19 pandemic at a hospital in Eastern Nepal.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2024Article
- Quality improvement approach to reduce patient cycle time at a student-run free healthcare clinical network.BMJ open quality · 2024Article
- The need for a broad perspective when assessing value-for-money for out-of-hours primary care.Primary health care research & development · 2024Review
- Respiratory syncytial virus vaccination strategies for older Canadian adults: a cost-utility analysis.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2024Article
- Decreasing Patient Visit Length at a Student-Run Free Clinic via a Continuous Quality Improvement Project.Cureus · 2024Article
- Revolutionizing Skin Cancer Triage: The Role of Patient-Initiated Teledermoscopy in Remote Diagnosis.Cancers · 2024Article
- Healthcare contact days among older adults living with dementia.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2024Article
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe typical focus in discussions of healthcare spending is on direct medical costs such as physician reimbursement. The indirect costs of healthcare-patient opportunity costs associated with seeking care, for example-have not been adequately quantified. We aimed to quantify the opportunity costs for adults seeking medical care for themselves or others. STUDY
designSecondary analysis of the 2003-2010 American Time Use Survey (ATUS).
methodsWe used the nationally representative 2003-2010 ATUS to estimate opportunity costs associated with ambulatory medical visits. We estimated opportunity costs for employed adults using self-reported hourly wages and for unemployed adults using a Heckman selection model. We used the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to compare opportunity costs with direct costs (ie, patient out-of-pocket, provider reimbursement) in 2010.
resultsAverage total time per visit was 121 minutes (95% CI, 118-124), with 37 minutes (95% CI, 36-39) of travel time and 84 minutes (95% CI, 81-86) of clinic time. The average opportunity cost per visit was $43, which exceeds the average patient's out-of-pocket payment. Total opportunity costs per year for all physician visits in the United States were $52 billion in 2010. For every dollar spent in visit reimbursement, an additional 15 cents were spent in opportunity costs.
conclusionsIn the United States, opportunity costs associated with ambulatory medical care are substantial. Accounting for patient opportunity costs is important for examining US healthcare system efficiency and for evaluating methods to improve the efficient delivery of patient-centered care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
26295356PMC8085714What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.