I think rather than the term “efficiency”, what you're perhaps alluding to is the time per visit or the time per patient. Certainly that would increase in a team-based practice, and it should. Patients are more complex. It takes longer to sort out problems. We were just talking about the mental health burden for providers but also for patients, and that certainly takes more time.
A team-based care model that's implemented well doesn't necessarily equate to increased resources and increased dollars. Different team members working at their top of scope and many team members that are not as highly trained and, to be frank, paid at the same level as family physicians are would be incorporated as part of that, but it's also about the health care savings we see.
Dr. Lemire touched on how even if a team-based primary care clinic or network costs more directly, there would be significant indirect savings from reduced emergency department visits, which are much more expensive, and reduced hospital admissions certainly.
Per visit, per patient coming into clinic, that may change. It may take more time. However, having worked under both models myself, I think patients value—and as a family physician, I certainly value—being able to take that extra time to sort out all of the issues. We hear across the country about one issue per patient and one issue per visit. Patients don't like that, and family physicians don't like that, and I think we can do better.