Estimación del tiempo de consulta ambulatoria en clínica médica / Analysis of ambulatory consultation length in medical clinics

ABSTRACT

Planning a schedule for medical appointments in health services must be efficient andflexible, butalso ithas to meettheneedsofpatients, healthprofessionalsandnon-medical staff. There are large differences in the opinión about the optimal duration to meetthese objectives, across countries. In this paperwe propose toperform a reviewof the literature to estímate the appropriate length ofa medical consultation inprimary care, based on international standards. We conclude that managers of health systems should rethink the way they organize the agenda for medical appointments. Medical and bioethical reasons suggest assigning a lapse cióse to 20 minutes for consultations in medical clinics.