Primary Care Workload: 62 Hours Weekly
October 22, 2025
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4 min
10 Key Takeaways
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1
Physicians worked a median of 6
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2
8 hours per week.
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3
Average annual time per patient is
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4
7 hours.
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5
Increased EHR tasks contribute to rising work hours.
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6
Higher complexity in patients requires more time.
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7
Part-time physicians generally spend more time per patient.
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8
Community health center physicians invest less time per patient.
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9
Unmet care needs reflect current reimbursement models.
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10
Study results may not generalize across all practice settings.
Physicians in a large integrated health system spend a median of 61.8 hours weekly on patient care, equating to approximately 2,844 hours annually, with substantial differences based on patient complexity and message volume. This time investment has surpassed prior estimates of work hours for primary care providers, possibly due to increased electronic health record tasks. Findings highlight unmet primary care needs driven by existing reimbursement models and suggest that part-time physicians allocate more time per patient, raising concerns about overall patient management efficiency.
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