Office visits to orthopedic surgeons: United States, 1995-96.

OBJECTIVES This report describes the utilization of ambulatory medical care services as provided by nonfederally employed, office-based orthopedic surgeons during the period 1995-96. Statistics are presented on selected physician, patient, and visit characteristics. METHODS The data presented in this report were collected from the 1995 and 1996 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NAMCS). NAMCS is a national probability sample survey of visits to nonfederally employed, office-based physicians. Sample data are weighted to produce annual estimates. The survey is a component of the National Health Care Survey, which measures health care utilization across a variety of providers. Data are presented in this report as annual averages, unless otherwise noted. RESULTS During 1995-96, an estimated 76.5 million office visits were made to orthopedic surgeons, an average of 38.3 million visits per year. The annual average visit rate was 14.5 visits per 100 persons. This represents an increase over the 1975-76 estimate of 11.3 visits per 100 persons. Visits to orthopedic surgeons accounted for 5.3 percent of all office-based ambulatory care visits during 1995-96, but this specialty received 28.3 percent of all injury-related office visits. The most frequent reasons given by patients for visiting orthopedic surgeons were knee symptoms, postoperative visits, back symptoms, and shoulder symptoms.