Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28793928›Full record

ArticleIsrael journal of health policy research2017

A new marker of primary care utilization - annual accumulated duration of time of visits.

Talya A Nathan, Arnon D Cohen, Shlomo Vinker

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Israel journal of health policy research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Comorbid Conditions and Driving Status Among Older Low-Income African Americans.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2019
    Article
  5. Providers and patients face-to-face: what is the time?Israel journal of health policy research · 2017
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Talya A NathanThe Department of Family Medicine, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. talya.nathan@gmail.com.
Arnon D CohenClalit Health Services, Tel Aviv; 3) Medical Division, Leumit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Shlomo VinkerThe Department of Family Medicine, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMost of the research on primary care workload has focused on the number of visits or the average duration of visits to a primary care physician (PCP) and their effect on the quality of medical care. However, the accumulated annual visit duration has yet to be examined. This measure could also have implications for the allocation of resources among health plans and across regions. In this study we aimed to define and characterize the concept of "Accumulated Annual Duration of Time" (AADT) spent with a PCP. 

methodA cross-sectional study based on a national random sample of 77,247 adults aged 20 and over. The study's variables included annual number of visits and AADT with a PCP, demographic characteristics and chronic diseases. The time period was the entire year of 2012.

resultsFor patients older than 20 years, the average annual number of visits to a PCP was 8.8 ± 9.1, and the median 6 ± 10 IQR (Interquartile Range). The mean AADT was 65.8 ± 75.7 min, and the median AADT was 43 ± 75 IQR minutes. The main characteristics of patients with a higher annual number of visits and a higher AADT with a PCP were: female, older in age, a higher Charlson index and a low socio-economic status. Chronic diseases were also found to increase the number of annual visits to a PCP as well as the AADT, patients with chronic heart failure had highest AADT in comparison to others (23.1 ± 15.5 vs. 8.6 ± 8.9 visits; and 165.3 ± 128.8 vs. 64.5 ± 74 min). It was also found that the relationship between AADT and age was very similar to the relationship between visits and age.

conclusionWhile facing the ongoing increase in a PCP's work load and shortening of visit length, the concept of AADT provides a new measure to compare between different healthcare systems that allocate different time frames for a single primary care visit. For Israel, the analysis of the AADT data provides support for continued use of the number of visits in the capitation formula, as a reliable and readily-accessible indicator of primary care usage.

Indexed as

Time FactorsAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAmbulatory CareCross-Sectional StudiesDelivery of Health CareFemaleHealth Maintenance OrganizationsHumansIsraelLinear ModelsMaleMiddle AgedPrimary Health CareQuality Indicators, Health CareFamily physicianPrimary care visit/consultationVisit/consultation duration

Identifiers

PMID28793928
PMCPMC5550929

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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.