A study published in JAMA estimated the processing time and billing and insurance-related costs for patient encounters in five settings.
Researchers interviewed 27 health system administrators and 34 physicians at an academic healthcare system in 2016 and 2017.
Here are 15 statistics from the study.
Estimated processing time and total costs for billing and insurance-related activities
1. Primary care visit: 13 minutes and $20.49
2. Discharged emergency department visit: 32 minutes and $61.54
3. General inpatient stay: 73 minutes and $124.26
4. Ambulatory surgical procedure: 75 minutes and $170.40
5. Inpatient surgical procedure: 100 minutes and $215.10
Estimated median time and costs for activities carried out by physicians
6. Primary care visit: 3 minutes or $6.36
7. Emergency department visit: 3 minutes or $10.97
8. General inpatient stay: 5 minutes or $13.29
9. Ambulatory surgical procedure: 15 minutes or $51.20
10. Inpatient surgical procedure: 15 minutes or $51.20
Professional billing costs as estimated percentage of professional revenue
11. Primary care visits 14.5 percent
12. Emergency department visits: 25.2 percent
13. General medicine inpatient stays: 8 percent
14. Ambulatory surgical procedures: 13.4 percent
15. Inpatient surgical procedures: 3.1 percent