Processing time related to patient attitude in a family practice residency model office.

This paper presents a time-motion study of patient processing in the Ball Memorial Family Practice Residency Model Office during a one-month time period. Time intervals including patient waiting time and patient processing time, ie, length of patient time spent in attendance by various health-care office personnel, were calculated. An assessment intended to reveal patients' attitudes in the context of their visits was performed. Correlation statistical analysis of the time-motion and attitude studies indicates that relatively negative patient attitudes are related to the length of time that the patient spends waiting for the doctor, the length of patient waiting time in the office, and the total time that the patient spends in the office.