The Changing Face of Medical Care

How much time do you want to spend with your physician?

My guess would be more than 5-10 minutes.  Sometimes I want to spend as little time as possible with my own physician, especially when she is telling me that I need to lose weight.  The truth of the matter is that even in this instance, she really can only tell me to lose the weight, without really having the time to tell me how.

I liken the typical physician's office scheduling system to that air travel.  First and foremost you are concerned that you get a ticket to get on the plane.  In this case, that is calling the medical office to make the appointment.  I have called many medical offices, even under the guise of being another physician, and have had 5-10 minute waits on the phone.  Some offices have a message-on-hold or music, while others have simply, dead air.  With the dead air, when you are put on hold, you often wonder if they have hung up on you but a afraid to hang up and call back, just in case you might be next in line on the phone tree.

Let's assume that you have your appointment.  The next step in your medical travel is arriving at the airport (the office).  In some instances you will receive a packet of material from the office ahead of time.  Many offices are now on electronic medical records and have either bubble sheets or other forms of data entry.  Some offices will have stations where patients have to enter their own data into the computers.  This can be cumbersome for patients that are not tech savvy.  We always want new patients to show up 15-30 minutes early so that you can fill out the appropriate paperwork (checking though security).  Alas, a majority of patients will show up right on the appointment time and thus are 30 minutes late being seen (boarded).  In rare instances, you will be told that you have simply lost your appointment (seat) and have been rescheduled to another day (flight).  This keeps things running on time but can definitely leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth.

Just like real travel, you have to go into a physician appointment with an open mind and an open schedule.  You always have to plan for the "what if".  What if the doctor is running behind or gets called out to go deliver a baby.  Try to be flexible and understanding.  Personally, I hate running behind just as much as the patients are uncomfortable sitting in a awaiting room past their appointment time.  It is helpful to realize that we are all on the same flight and hopefully we will all arrive at a common location.  That place is the sanctum of you feeling as though you had your time with the doctor and had your questions and concerns answered.  For some this may mean a 5 minute appointment, and for others it may mean much more.

The last comparison between airline travel and visiting a medical office is that of overbooking.  We always have no-shows (people that are scheduled and confirmed, that simply do not show up).  Physicians (I can't speak for pilots), also tend to feel as though they can, at times, do things that mere mortals cannot; like see two people at the same time and then see two more people simultaneously 10 minutes later.  We also practice by the "what if".  What if patients don't show up for their appointments?  Do we overbook?  Yes we do.  The simple fact of the matter is that there are not enough physicians out there anymore, so we are trying to see more patients with less resources.  We have co-pilots like nurse practitioners and physician assistants that extend us when we cannot be in two places at the same time.  Some patients would rather see the physician, but many patients just want to be assured they are receiving quality health care and physician extenders are an excellent community resource.

So, the next time you are calling for an appointment at your physician's office, expect to be treated kindly and with compassion.  Arrive at the appointment when expected with a good book and if there is a wait, understand that there may have been someone ahead of you that was given bad news or just had many questions.  Mindfulness of others is an excellent practice.  If you do not feel as though the wait was appropriate or the people scheduling were on par, then tell your physician.  I listen to everything that is said by my patients because my practice is a reflection of me and how I present myself to my community.  

There are two ends to a stethoscope.  One heart at each end, offering healing and comfort in each direction.

Safe travels.