A recent Kaiser Health News article http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org * noted “ Patients – and physicians – say they feel the time crunch as never before as doctors rush through appointments as if on roller skates to see more patients and perform more procedures to make up for flat or declining reimbursements.” “
“Doctors have one eye on the patient and one eye on the clock….,”
“By all accounts, short visits take a toll on the doctor-patient relationship, which is considered a key ingredient of good care, and may represent a missed opportunity for getting patients more actively involved in their own health. There is less of a dialogue between patient and doctor, studies show, increasing the odds patients will leave the office frustrated.”
“Physicians don’t like to be rushed either, but for primary care physicians, time is, quite literally, money. Unlike specialists, they don’t do procedures like biopsies or colonoscopies, which generate revenue, but instead, are still paid mostly per visit, with only minor adjustments for those that go longer.
* to read the full KHN article “15-Minute Visits Take A Toll On The Doctor-Patient Relationship” by Roni Caryn Rabin, highlight and click on open hyperlink http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/April/21/15-minute-doctor-visits.aspx?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=12553013&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8riDrQ3EYKiGffCgIUSIogN6v2Em6I_cq_nnv9lzKdFSkJcXpUNk9aemhhiRrFuPz7zYyAnIE61q_jtI49vHcHlDReXtmYkRe3PH5GEKjoYHjDzeg&_hsmi=12553013