Objectives To explore the nature of managed-care hassles in primary care ph
ysicians' offices and to determine the feasibility of practice-based resear
ch methods to study the problem. Methods 16 internists and 10 family physic
ians volunteered to collect data about managed-care hassles during or short
ly after the office visit for 15 consecutive patients using preprinted data
cards. Outcome measures Number of hassles, time required for hassles, and
interference with quality of care and doctor-patient relationship. Results
Physicians adapted easily to using data cards. Before the pilot study, part
icipants estimated a hassle rate of 10% and thought that interference with
quality of care and the doctor-patient relationship was infrequent. Of 376
total visits for which the physicians completed data cards, 23% of visits g
enerated 1 or more hassles. On average, a physician who saw 22 patients dai
ly experienced 1 hassle lasting 10 minutes for every 4 to 5 patients. More
than 40% of hassles were reported as interfering with quality of care, the
doctor-patient relationship, or both. Conclusions The high hassle rate, in
addition to the interference of hassles with quality of care and the doctor
-patient relationship, suggests the need for further investigation into man
aged-care hassles using practice-based research methods.