Utilization of surgical manpower in a prepaid group practice

This paper describes a study made of the workload of 7 general surgeons, comprising the entire staff of a prepaid group practice of 158,000 enrollees over a 6 mth period. The unit of measurement was the HE, a hernia equivalent. One HE is defined as the amount of work involved in operative and pre and postoperative care of a patient undergoing an adult unilateral inguinal herniorrhaphy. A consensus of surgeons suggested a weekly workload of approximately 10 HEs would comprise an active surgical practice, yet leave time for continuing education. Data indicated that the median workload of 7 surgeons studied was 9.9 HEs per week, comparing favorably to a study of 19 general surgeons in a fee for service community practice who averaged 3.1 HEs per week. Median complexity of operation in the study group was 1.00 HE similar to community practice (0.95). It is concluded that findings indicate that the prepaid group possesses administrative mechanisms to efficiently utilize staff and resources.