Wait times to schedule appointments with physicians have climbed higher and higher in recent years.
An AMN Healthcare survey published in May found that it takes an average of up to 31 days to schedule a physician appointment in 15 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas — up 19% from 2022 and 48% from 2004.
This jump is even more significant in certain specialties, including OB-GYN, where appointment wait times average 42 days, and gastroenterology, with an average 40-day wait for an appointment.
Harry Haus, MD, recently joined Becker’s to share his thoughts as to why physician leadership needs to address this problem more urgently.
Harry Haus, MD. Medical Director of Dr. Haus & Associates (Erie, Pa.): I think leadership should address cost effective medicine. I have not heard of getting the right care at the right place and right time for over 20 years. Patients are waiting months and even more than a year to be seen. The small problem then becomes a large, deadly problem.
Next, leadership should stop making training longer and longer. In the 1980s you could pass the licensing exam in some states like [New York]and get a license. States like [Pennsylvania] required a year of residency then it became two years of residency to get a license. Board certification has become more expensive and time-consuming. They are making residencies longer. For example, emergency medicine is now three years for MDs but there is a push to make it four years long. NPs and PAs with just two years of education are often working as hospitalists and in ERs with less than one-third the training of a physician.
Finally, private practice physicians are missing in leadership. Twenty-five years ago, I was on the state board of directors for my specialty but I was the only one in private practice. In 2000, most doctors were in private practice but they were missing from leadership spots.
