[nradov]

The patient's time has zero value to most physicians. It's often faster, and more clinically useful, for them to just ask you for your complaint and medical history. This allows them to guide the conversation and quickly focus in on the exact information they need. Searching through old chart notes is often a waste of time since the systems are slow and the data is frequently incomplete or irrelevant.

[calvano915]

> Searching through old chart notes is often a waste of time since the systems are slow and the data is frequently incomplete or irrelevant.

I believe this can change if we change the amount of patients a physician must assess and treat in a given time period. Because that would be super costly (way more physicians required on staff) Nurse Practitioners and PAs would be a more cost effective way to delve into important and relevant information that takes time to uncover.

[nradov]

NPs and PA time isn't exactly cheap either, and they aren't sitting around waiting for stuff to do. They can be effective at treating routine cases under supervision, however it just wouldn't make sense for physicians to delegate patients histories and chart review to them. They won't necessarily know which questions to ask, and too much relevant information can be lost.

[wolverine876]

> way more physicians required on staff

IIRC, as of several years ago, the supply of doctors is artificially constrained and hasn't really grown with the population.

[nradov]

Yes that's correct. Every year, students graduate from medical schools but are unable to enter clinical practice due to a shortage of residency slots. We need more government funding to remove that bottleneck.

https://savegme.org/

[wolverine876]

The healthcare industry has plenty of money to fund those things itself.