Understanding Waste in Health Care: Perceptions of Frontline Physicians Regarding Time Use and Appropriateness of Care They and Others Provide.

Background: Approximately 30% of total US health care spending is thought to be "wasted" on activities like unnecessary and inefficiently delivered services.

Objectives: To assess the perceptions of clinic-based physicians regarding their use of time and appropriateness of care provided.

Design: Cross-sectional online survey of all Southern California Permanente Medical Group partner and associate physicians (N = 1034) who were primarily providing clinic-based care in 1 of 4 geographically and operationally distinct Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medical Centers.