Primary Care Stats: Primary Numbers
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21.8
Typical length, in minutes, of a patient visit with a general practitioner
18
Estimated number of hours per day that the same physician would need to provide all recommended preventive and high-quality chronic care services to a typical patient roster under the current
133 million
Number of Americans, in 2005, with at least one chronic condition, such as heart disease or diabetes, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are among the top 10 leading causes of death
36.9
Percentage of the primary care workload, such as calling patients, reviewing laboratory results and fielding patient-related questions from staff, not reimbursed by the procedure/examination-oriented fee-for-service model
6
Percentage by which total health care costs might decrease if medical homes were to become the norm, according to one estimate
1.44
Decrease in deaths per 10,000 Americans associated with an increase of one additional primary care physician, according to public health researcher Barbara Starfield of Johns Hopkins University
46
Percentage reduction in the number of U.S. medical school graduates entering family medicine residencies between 1999 and 2009, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians
