| ■ Primary-Care Doctor Visits Less Costly | 07.04.27 |
| In 2004, primary-care doctors (general practice, family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatricians) accounted for nearly half of all 967.3 million doctor visits in the United States, but totaled only 30 percent of the $152 billion spent on office-based doctor care. The remaining 70 percent of the $152 billion was spent on specialty care, says the latest News and Numbers from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The agency also found that the average cost of a visit to the doctor's office was $155, but there were wide variations depending on the type of doctor. The average cost for primary-care doctors was about $100, compared with $232 for a cardiologist, $210 for an orthopedist, and $206 for an ophthalmologist. |