Patients' views on optimal visit length in primary care

Visit length (VL) has been decreasing over the last decades. Patients and physicians alike hold that this may have adverse affects on quality of care and patient-doctor rapport. Our aim was to study the optimal VL as viewed by the patients as well as possible related factors such as demographic parameters and patient satisfaction. By using surveys, we determined that patient satisfaction was highly correlated with VL and satisfaction from VL. Optimal VL as viewed by the patients was 15.4 minutes on average with considerable variation. Longer expected VL was associated with longer visits. Patient satisfaction from the visit was significantly decreased when expressed optimal VL exceeded the estimated duration of the visit. The surveys demonstrated that in young adults, satisfaction is highly correlated with VL. When asked, patients expect attainable VLs, which are on average only somewhat longer then the scheduled duration. We believe that patients should take part in decisions regarding visit scheduling. We suggest that individualization may contribute to the cost-effectiveness of physicians' time.