Telephone dissatisfaction in pediatric practice: Denver and Baltimore

A survey of pediatricians in private practice in the Denver and Baltimore metropolitan areas was conducted to assess pediatricians' satisfaction with the telephone in their practices. The response rates were 84% (89/106) in Denver and 72% (90/125) in Baltimore. In both cities, 42% of the physicians were dissatisfied with their telephone systems. Dissatisfied physicians were less likely to provide a morning telephone hour (P<.02), less likely to delegate calls to office staff (P<.01), more likely to believe that they lacked sufficient time to handle daytime calls (P<.0001), and more likely to be in group rather than solo practice (P<.05). Younger age of the respondent approached, but did not reach, statistical significance in its association with dissatisfaction.