Vitals Spotlight - We Give the Doctor an Exam

Are you frustrated with long wait times at the doctor office?  The national average door-to-doctor time in 2009 is now at 21.3 minutes, but there are many doctors with waits an hour or longer. This is a continuing trend for the last three decades as the Kaiser Family Foundation reported in a study in 2003 that physician visits took 18.4 minutes in 2002 and 15.9 minutes in 1989.

Vitals.com is now publishing average wait times of 100,000 doctors. Look for the clock in the doctors  profile for average wait time on each individual doctor.

Here are the grim facts about wait time:

• The longer an ill patient has to wait to see a doctor, the greater the chance their sickness will worsen.
• Wait times places patients’ health at risk and costs hospitals, insurers and patients more in resources and dollars.
• Patients who give up and walkout, will often get sicker and show up later in worse shape.
• An Institute of Medicine report on the crisis in U.S. emergency did a study on why wait times are increasing:
• Doctors overbook patients. Overbooking is usually deliberate because doctors are paid by volume under many health insurance reimbursement systems.
• Increased demand - the number of patients seeking ER care jumped 26 percent to 114 million in the last few years.
• Doctor shortages especially in rural areas and certain types of specialties.
• Hospitals closing the Emergency Room - the number of U.S. emergency departments fell about 12 percent in the last few years. Patients will need to make a decision to go to a nearby doctor or travel a long distance to find an available emergency room.

What are the solutions?

• If you have to wait, at least the doctor can make it a comfortable wait. Some emergency rooms and busy doctors now give patients pagers that will buzz when it’s their turn. This allows patients to go out for a breather without risk of losing their spot in line.
• Insurance companies can provide reimbursement for less traditional patient visits, such as telephone and e-mail consultations to give patients speedier access to doctors.
• Doctors can reserve a big percentage of their day for patients who call early for same-day appointments.
• Go electronic. Patients can provide medical details about themselves prior to a visit and then get test results electronically the same time as the doctor through a private online account.
• Finally, check your doctor’s wait time on his/her profile on Vitals.com