questionmark Posted January 29, 2014 #1 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Need to see a doctor? You may have to wait. A survey of physician practices in 15 metropolitan areas across the country, which was taken before the health law expanded coverage, found that the average wait time for a new patient to see a physician in five medical specialties was 18.5 days. The longest waits were in Boston, where patients wait an average of 72 days to see a dermatologist and 66 days to see a family doctor. The shortest were in Dallas, where the average wait time is 10.2 days for all specialties, and just five days to see a family doctor. “We have too few providers, which is creating a significant access problem,” says Travis Singleton, senior vice president of Merritt Hawkins in Texas, which conducted the survey. The health care and physician search consulting firm spoke with 1,399 medical offices between June and November 2013 in five different areas of specialization: cardiology, dermatology, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedic surgery and family practice. Researchers called the practices and asked for the first available appointments for new patients needing routine care, such as a heart check-up or a well-woman visit. Read more Who seez that private medicine works better than Guv Healthcare in Canada? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent0range Posted January 29, 2014 #2 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I love living in a rural area. I had an ear infection last week and called the doctor. Two hours later I was out of his office and standing in line at the pharmacy picking up my prescription. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drayno Posted January 29, 2014 #3 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I love living in a rural area. I had an ear infection last week and called the doctor. Two hours later I was out of his office and standing in line at the pharmacy picking up my prescription. Even in sub-standard suburban areas, the wait isn't that long. Inner-cities, however, I imagine, is a much worse scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aztek Posted January 29, 2014 #4 Share Posted January 29, 2014 and the bill they send you after, makes it look like you were in intencive care for all those 18 days. lol i never had to wait more than few days for an app. none emergency visit that is. there are tens of thousands doctors in nyc, so wait here is not that bad, unless you want to go to a certain doctor, for certain procedure. other than that, article makes it look a lot worst that it is, but that is nyc, can't comment on other citys a friend of mine is a soldier, his VA hospital, is about that, 3-4 weeks wait for an appointment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan max2 Posted January 29, 2014 #5 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Who seez that private medicine works better than Guv Healthcare in Canada? The argument being, how "private" is our private medicine really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Silver Thong Posted January 29, 2014 #6 Share Posted January 29, 2014 The thing here is wait times for a specialist can be long however just to see a doctor maybe a couple hours to wait if that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babe Ruth Posted January 29, 2014 #7 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Under medicare, I have my choice of many doctors. Is this socialism? Yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Wearer of Hats Posted January 29, 2014 #8 Share Posted January 29, 2014 The thing here is wait times for a specialist can be long however just to see a doctor maybe a couple hours to wait if that. Same here, although when I was sent to see my heart specialist after the GP (same day appointment) discovered my arrhythmia it was a long wait because it was over the Christmas Holiday period so I had to wait until he was back in practise, which was IIRC three weeks but I was in the door pretty much the moment it opened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OverSword Posted January 29, 2014 #9 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I'm not buying this. I went online last nite and made an appointment for this morning. Bing Bang Boom. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F3SS Posted January 30, 2014 #10 Share Posted January 30, 2014 72 days in Boston? Massachusetts is the model for the ACA. Great. We are going to go from two and a half weeks to two and a half months. A reassuring article indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Paranoid Android Posted January 30, 2014 #11 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I once took a sick day off work needed a Doctor's Certificate to give my employer. I could have gone in any day (1 hour is my usual wait time), but a combination of being sick and being lazy meant I waited 10 days. My doctor wrote a fake date on the paper to make it look like I'd seen him within a week, since employers don't like such a long period between the day off and the medical examination. Now I'm reading that some people wait 66 days to see a GP? Would I even remember my symptoms 66 days later, and could a doctor in good conscience fill out a Doctor's Certificate to authorise a day off work 66 days later? And because Australia has Medicare, a doctor's visit is free I love Australia 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neognosis Posted January 30, 2014 #12 Share Posted January 30, 2014 My father in law found out on monday that he has kidney cancer. He can't get in to a specialist until mid February. We are frantically trying to find another, because he may be dead by then if nothing is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little_dreamer Posted January 30, 2014 #13 Share Posted January 30, 2014 My father in law found out on monday that he has kidney cancer. He can't get in to a specialist until mid February. We are frantically trying to find another, because he may be dead by then if nothing is done. Sorry to hear that, Neo. Best wishes for your family. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+and-then Posted January 30, 2014 #14 Share Posted January 30, 2014 My father in law found out on monday that he has kidney cancer. He can't get in to a specialist until mid February. We are frantically trying to find another, because he may be dead by then if nothing is done. My condolences on the news Neo - my prayers will include your wife's dad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafterman Posted February 1, 2014 #15 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Who seez that private medicine works better than Guv Healthcare in Canada? According to this piece from the Washington Post, Canadian wait times are about twice as long as the US. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/07/01/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-canadian-health-care-in-one-post/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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