Be Aware: Shorter Visits by Certain Patients Seem to Increase Inappropriate Prescriptions

Efficient time management is one of the signature attributes—and biggest draws—of an urgent care visit. A new study published by JAMA Health Forum could be viewed as a caveat for urgent care providers, however, as it suggests that shorter visits to primary care physicians seem to result in more poor prescribing decisions than longer visits do—at least for certain categories of medications and among patients from certain demographic groups. The cross-sectional study, which reflects the EHR files of more than 8.1 million visits by over 4.3 million patients, showed that publicly insured Hispanic or non–Hispanic Black patients tended to have shorter visits with a PCP, and that those shorter visits were more likely to result in inappropriate prescribing decisions, especially for antibiotics and opioid pain medications. Again, the data were drawn from primary care visits where the expectation for longer visits may make shorter visits an aberration. However, it may be worth doing an unscientific self-study to see if the amount of time you spend with a patient correlates to the likelihood that you may or may not prescribe medication.