Comments on: There is No Such Thing as a 10-Minute Office Visit

By: Mary Pat Whaley

Mary Pat Whaley — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:06:16 +0000

Hello,

I know that it is difficult for patients to understand that part of the current insurance system is the significant administrative expense carried by the physician practice. Any patient who had the opportunity to observe what it takes to have a claim accepted and paid for in the US would be very, very surprised!

Thanks for your comment.

Best wishes,

Mary Pat

By: Formerly Canadian

Formerly Canadian — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:24:16 +0000

The commentator who said “The patient is willing to pay for the 10 minutes that the provider spent with them, not the 45 minutes that 8 other people spent.In healthcare process improvement we are working to eliminate the waste.” is missing the key ingredient about the system. We have thousands upon thousands of insurance companies that create this monster for no other reason than to profit financially. Even though most American consumers of care complain about the bureaucracy embedded in the system, they are unwilling or unable to accept the notion of one-payer system. By extension, their vote is essentially for a 10 minute visit with the doctor and perhaps 35 minutes with 6 people (instead of 8) who must handle one office visit. In family practice we can only WISH to average $55.00 per visit. I am just saying.

By: Mary Pat Whaley

Mary Pat Whaley — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:47:55 +0000

Hi Ana,

I’m glad you liked it.

Best wishes,

Mary Pat

By: Ana Marroquin

Ana Marroquin — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:25:40 +0000

Great article; breaks it down perfect! Thank you for the information.

By: Mary Pat Whaley

Mary Pat Whaley — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 17:37:13 +0000

Hi David,

Thank you for an excellent comment. We need to be making changes, not excuses.

Best wishes,

Mary Pat

By: Dave Dool

Dave Dool — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:41:13 +0000

Rather than “educate patients on what goes into an office visit”, let’s eliminate the waste that is non value add. The patient is willing to pay for the 10 minutes that the provider spent with them, not the 45 minutes that 8 other people spent.
In healthcare process improvement we are working to eliminate the waste. We are automating eligibility and address checking, providing kiosk check-in for patients who prefer that option, developing ways for patients to go directly to exam rooms upon arrival, putting scales in exam rooms for more private vitals collection, automating Rx refills directly from the pharmacy, etc. We are tracking patient wait times and consistently decreasing them.
While we will never be able to totaly eliminate all non value add activity, we can reduce it considerably.

By: Mary Pat Whaley

Mary Pat Whaley — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:08:57 +0000

Hi Liz,

Thanks for the story – it’s a wonderful analogy to healthcare!

Best wishes,

Mary Pat

By: Mary Pat Whaley

Mary Pat Whaley — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:05:58 +0000

Hi Missy,

Thanks for the suggestion. Much more education is needed and much more transparency!

Best wishes,

Mary Pat

By: Mary Pat Whaley

Mary Pat Whaley — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 00:58:23 +0000

Hi Cheryl,

Thank you for your comments.

Best wishes,

Mary Pat

By: Cheryl Katz

Cheryl Katz — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:23:14 +0000

I have gone through this explanation of why healthcare costs so much- not to mention the long years of training for everyone to have the knowledge to provide the service in the least amount of time, but from the patient’s view, all they wanted was a couple of minutes with the doctor of his advice.

How much does the patient earn to pay for those 10 minutes?

With a complete electronic medical record system it indeed can take only 10 minutes or even less. And the receipt of payment can be less than a month. 6 patients an hour at $55 is a rate of $330hr. That’s between $400-600k a year if everyone does their jobs expeditiously. Hopefully, there are better paying procedures to balance that and a good payer-mix. If insurance pays well, we can feel less guilty about telling the patient the fee rate.

As a Practice Manager I found it was a tight budget to work with and still offer top quality services. Volume leads to exhaustion and mistakes. Not to mention how much overhead costs there are for the facility, utilities, equipment and supplies. Sometimes I think Health Insurance mostly pays for expensive hotel style rooms in NYC.

Still, I believe it is all worth it to get good healthcare. Add research and tests and treatments and I survive cancer and get to live a longer and healthier life. That’s one of my major priorities when looking at my budget!