General pediatricians in group practice had a median of 4,157 ambulatory encounters in 2010, down 4.4% since 2007, according to a survey by the Medical Group Management Association.
Pediatricians in the southern United States had the highest number of ambulatory encounters, 4,840, while those in the West, with 3,402 encounters, had the lowest, the MGMA reported. Male pediatricians had a median of 4,471 ambulatory encounters, while the median for female pediatricians was 3,893.
The MGMA considered an ambulatory encounter to be "documented, face-to-face contact between a patient and a provider" that did not take place in an inpatient hospital and did not involve a surgical procedure.
The 2010 edition of the annual survey, conducted among MGMA members and nonmembers, includes data from 2,846 group practices representing 59,375 physician and nonphysician providers. The MGMA presents highlights of the survey in its In Practice blog.