When Efforts to Increase Patient Visit Volume Harm Patient Care

Faced with declining reimbursement, increasing overhead, and mounting regulatory burdens, many physicians are being forced to squeeze more patient visits into each day. But how many patient visits is too much?

One physician examined that question in a recent blog appearing on KevinMD.com.

"How many patients can a physician see in one day and still be thorough?" he wrote. "Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for efficiency. But we need to recognize when efforts at efficiency become 'medical sloppiness' or, frankly, malpractice."

While the number of patients that can be safely accommodated per day likely varies depending on medical specialty and the type of patients seen, the KevinMD blog raises an important question: Where should physicians draw the line when it comes to the number of patients seen per day?

What do you think? In general, how many patients do you believe a primary-care physician can safely see per day?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below.