"Panel Size: How Many Patients Can One Doctor Manage” [April 2007] by Mark Murray, MD, MPA, Mike Davies, MD, and Barbara Boushon, RN, nicely explained what I did intuitively in 1970. As a junior associate in a busy family practice, I was accepting a lot of new patients while my established patients, when unable to see me when needed, were forced to see an even more junior physician at our clinic. My optimal workload was 110 office visits per week. After taking note of these things, I initiated these guidelines: My established patients would generally be seen by me, and new patients would generally be seen by the more junior doctor. At the end of each week I would ask the office staff to total my office visits. I would accept one or two new patients the following week if my total number of office visits was less than 110. This system kept me busy but not overwhelmed, and my patients liked the continuity.

Editor's note: Watch for an upcoming article by Dr. Murray in which he answers frequently asked questions about panel size.