Estimated Physician Services in a United States Metropolitan Area

A sample of Baltimore Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) physicians was interviewed to determine hours devoted to professional activities and numbers of patients seen. Results were extrapolated to the total active physician population of the area. The SMSA, with 227 physicians per 100,000 population, has proportionately fewer physicians in private practice than the United States as a whole. Among private practitioners, 34 per cent of all patients and 55 per cent of all inpatients are seen by surgical specialists, while general practitioners see 39 per cent of all outpatients. However, 60 per cent of all patient care hours provided by Baltimore SMSA physicians are inpatient hours, three-fifths of which are provided by physicians-in-training. Institution-based physicians together provide 55 per cent of total patient care hours. The influence of medical institutions on the patient care available to the population of the Baltimore SMSA is stressed and its implications are discussed.