The article by James M. Hutchinson and Robert N. Foley presents an interesting approach with regard to determining the use of antibiotics. [1] If one is to interpret these data, it would be helpful to know whether the patient populations are comparable for the salaried physicians and the fee-for-service physicians. My impression (and I would be happy to be corrected) is that in general, fee-for-service physicians tend to see patients who feel their symptoms are acute, sooner than do salaried physicians, who might spend more time with a patient and thus have lower patient volumes but longer waiting times. The difference in waiting time may change the type of population seen by the 2 groups of physicians.
Patrick J. Potter, MD
London, Ont.
References
- 1.↵