How many minutes should be reserved per patient in ambulatory care visits?

Abstract

This report was prepared aiming to review national and international literature about outpatient visit length with leading consequences, as well as to stimulate an evidence based discussion on this topic in Turkey. The relevant literature was investigated under three topics: First topic was about the length of outpatient visits in different countries, the second topic was about quality of care.The last topic was related with the effects of time pressure on health care providers such as efficiency, job satisfaction and patient satisfaction. International literature showed that outpatient visit length should not be less than 10 minutes and in complex situations this span should be expanded.

Keywords

• Outpatient care, visit length, quality of care