Feature | March 26, 2015

Expansion of alternative care facilities reducing wait times for primary care doctors


March 26, 2015 — The 6th Annual Vitals Index revealed that the national average for wait times for doctors dropped to 19 minutes and 16 seconds, a full one-minute shorter than the 2014 wait time average.

As millions of Americans entered the healthcare system for the first time through the Affordable Care Act, analysts warned of a coming strain on the healthcare system. One prediction was overcrowded offices, resulting in longer waits for patient care. Yet instead of going up, wait times are actually coming down.

Several factors could be contributing to the decrease. Alternative care facilities, like urgent care centers and retail clinics, could be taking the burden off primary care doctors. Physician extenders, like nurse practitioners and physician assistants, may also be easing doctor caseloads. Even the rise of concierge medicine can be diverting patients from traditional group practice care. In fact, wait times for primary care doctors, the doctors Americans see the most, were generally down more than one minute (1 minute, 11 seconds) in a year-over-year comparison.

“It appears that the growth of supportive health services is increasing the overall efficiency of care for patients,” said Heyward Donigan, CEO of Vitals. “This is great news as more Americans receive health coverage and enter the system, post-reform.

While wait times are decreasing overall, the study found wide variations by doctor specialty. Dentists (13 minutes, 31 seconds) and plastic surgeons (15 minutes, 22 seconds), whose patients often pay out-of-pocket, have the shortest wait times out of the 61 types of specialists Vitals analyzed. Emergency doctors (24 minutes, 41 seconds) and pain management specialists (24 minutes, 52 seconds) had some of the longest wait times.

Beyond the type of doctor, where you see the doctor matters, too.  Out of the 50 largest cities across the United States, Portland edged out Seattle for the shortest wait time at 15 minutes, 48 seconds in 2015. Minneapolis, Seattle, Milwaukee and Omaha were also in the top 5. For the fourth year in a row, the longest wait time was reported in El Paso, Texas, at 26 minutes, 21 seconds. Memphis, Miami, New York and Las Vegas were also at the bottom of the ranking.

For states, New Hampshire led the nation with the shortest wait time at 15 minutes, 4 seconds. The remaining top states with shortest physician wait times include Wisconsin, Maine, Minnesota and Vermont. Alabama edged out Mississippi this year as the state with the longest wait, averaging 23 minutes, 25 seconds. Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee were also in the bottom five.

Vitals’ annual Physician Wait Time Report, now in its sixth year, is compiled from patient-reported wait times. The Vitals Index is designed to provide information about the current state of the doctor-patient relationship.

For more information: www.vitals.com


Related Content

News | Teleradiology

May 21, 2025 — Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas, Inc and NewVue have announced the introduction of Exa Teleradiology ...

Time May 21, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

May 15, 2025 – Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, has released its 10th annual Future Health Index ...

Time May 19, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

May 14, 2025 – Bialogics Analytics Inc., a leader in radiology informatics, has introduced its new AI solution AI ...

Time May 16, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

May 6, 2025 — NewVue.ai, a leader in cloud-native radiology workflow orchestration, and MD.ai, a pioneer in AI-enhanced ...

Time May 06, 2025
arrow
News | SIIM

April 14, 2025 —The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) Annual Meeting is set to take place May 23 to 25 ...

Time April 14, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

Feb. 4, 2025 — Riverain Technologies recently announced it expanded across eight countries in 2024 and added nearly 50 ...

Time February 04, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

Dec. 12, 2024 — At RSNA 2024, Careverse officially made its debut, exhibiting in the AI Showcase area, sharing its ...

Time December 18, 2024
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

Dec. 17, 2024 — Radin Health, a provider of advanced radiology AI-Powered solutions, highlighted its All-in-One ...

Time December 18, 2024
arrow
Feature | Computed Tomography (CT) | By Melinda Taschetta-Millane

In the ever-evolving landscape of medical imaging, computed tomography (CT) stands out as a cornerstone technology ...

Time July 30, 2024
arrow
News | Breast Imaging

July 29, 2024 — iCAD, Inc., a global leader in clinically proven AI-powered cancer detection solutions, announced a ...

Time July 29, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now