How do you know how many patients you should be seeing in a day? It is different for different specialities, but are there any general rules. I hear people talk about working at 110%. Or other being booked out several weeks. I keep feeling like I should be seeing more patients, but I am starting to get a wait for my patients. I don't know if I need to pick up the pace or that's just an okay amount to see. How do you judge?

I would love to know that info too. I think it depends on your type of practice(private, academic, etc), your experience, what level of service you're billing, and what types of pts you're seeing. I'm employed by hospital doing breast surgery. I have 45 minute block for new pts and 30 minute block for follow up pts which is far more than my boss who schedules follow ups every 15 minutes and 30 minutes for new pt. We have limited number of exam rooms and turn-around time can be slow because we're hospital based practice with lots of nursing regulations and rules. He's known many of his follow ups for 20 yrs or more whereas many of my "follow ups" are his old pts but new to me. I also bill mostly level 3 and 4 visits (5 for some newly diagnosed pts with CA). I'm sure an experienced practice manager could tell you more.

I think this has a lot to do with your specialty, as well as how you practice. I am a pediatrician, now averaging 34 patients a day. Another pediatrician nearby sees closer to 75-80 patients a day. While I could definitely see more patients (my busiest so far was 62), I am comfortable at the level I am seeing and am looking to recruit a second doctor rather than increase my numbers.

The difference between the 2 practices is location and personality. I am more of the "old style" pediatrician. I like to befriend my patients, sit and chat, become part of their lives. I was recently invited to one's bar mitzva, which I will try to attend. I also have been invited to weddings and am on a first name basis with several mothers.

The other doctor is a walking example of ADD. He is an excellent doctor, but cannot focus on anything for more than 2-3 minutes. The neighborhood he practices in is one where people are very rushed, do not like to sit and chat, and just want to be "in and out", on their own schedule, when it is convenient to them. He does not even schedule appointments--people come in and are seen on a first come, first serve basis. They just want him to "look in the kids ear and write the prescription". This actually suits his personality well and is why he can see so many kids a day.

One thing that has always been important to me is not to have a long line waiting for me. I think my patient's time is valuable and if they schedule an appointment they should be seen on time. I schedule accordingly. The main reason that people end up waiting in my office is when someone shows up late. If they are booked for a 15 minute slot and show up 10 minutes late, that runs into the next visit and the whole thing snowballs. I wish I could find a solution, but in a medicaid population where I cannot place any monetary fine on late or no shows, I am limited in how well I can "train" patients.

Thank you for your responses. I understand the style making a difference. I am more laid back and want to make sure to evaluate the entire picture, not just treat the immediate problem. I am very much into maintance therapy and being preventive vs reactive. The ADD approach does allow a quicker visit. I need to look at what I really believe is the amount of patients I can see and still give the level of service I feel is correct. It's a work in progress. I'm trying to balance getting people in who need to be seen while trying to keep my pts flowing well in clinic.

I once did an ENT rotation with a guy who was unbelievably efficient. I don't know how many pts he saw in a day but it was a lot. He had 4 exam rooms all in the same corner of the hallway and his dictaphone was on a little stand in a room in the middle. He used the same meds over and over and had pre-written prescriptions and instruction sheets. The nurse would room the patient and take the history, he would as a couple of questions, examine the patient, and then dictate his note. Another nurse would listen to the instructions and Rx as he dictated and pull the proper papers to give to the pt while he moved on down the line. I felt like I was a monkey wrench in a well-oiled machine all day, because everywhere I stood, I was in somebody's way. I'm not sure that would work as well in other specialties, but it seemed to work for him.

You know, what specialty you are can make a big difference. Many specialists do see the same general things every day and can do what this ENT did. I'm internal medicine and my busy day is 22 patients. Some days less. Certainly can't dictate and have my MA do everything my complicated patients need!

Interesting thread. I am just starting out of OBGYN residency. I am in a medium sized group, and there is some variety of styles for the partners. I think that i am not very efficient yet but am working on it. Any OBGYNs out there to mention their patient load? I am in the office 4 days a week, and usually on call one of the days.
becco

Specialty makes a big difference. I am an oncologist and often see 16-20 patients per day (20 minute visits). Usually, the visits involve serious discussions about the cancer progressing and changing therapy or end-of-life discussions, I at the end of the day, I am exhausted.

Internal Medicine/Pediatrics - I see on average 15-18 per day. This is definitely below the national average but I work "part-time" which means my last patient is at 3:30 pm. Even so, I feel like the days with 18+ are so tiring. We get a lot of complex internal medicine (read: geriatrics) patients and there is NO WAY you can get through those in 15 minutes. I don't see how doctors should be expected to be thorough in 15 minutes. I'm surprised that some can see 80 in a day = 10 patients per hour (assuming an 8 hour day) = 6 minutes per patient! Like people said, specialty matters as well as individual style.

"I'm surprised that some can see 80 in a day = 10 patients per hour (assuming an 8 hour day) = 6 minutes per patient!"

This really does depend on the circumstances. I generally limit myself to 7 or 8 well visits a day which can take 30 minutes each, and the rest are mostly quickies. For example, If I'm seeing a healthy 7 year old who I know well who comes in with fever and a sore throat, that may only take me 3 minutes (my MA does the culture). Of course, some of the urgent visits are longer, but I have at times seen 8-10 patients in an hour, especially during cold and flu season.