In the traditional primary care practice, you select the physician based on their proximity and if they are in-network. The next factor to consider is their appointment wait times and the length of the appointment.
Appointment Wait Times
The current average appointment wait time to see a primary care physician is 2-3 months. For some, who have Medicaid, the wait times are as long as 4-5 months.
At Digital Nomad Health the wait times are a few hours. You text or email us, and we’ll devise a time slot that works out well the same day.
This is especially important when you are considering going to the Urgent Care, where you might have out-of-pocket expenses as high as $150.
Patient Visit Times
In my primary care clinic at Kaiser Permanente, I would see a patient for 7-10 minutes, document for 5-10 minutes, and coordinate the next steps.
At DNH, the appointments are 30-60 minutes and sometimes longer for the primary intake appointment.
Visit times are long so that there is enough time to get to know each other and build a long-term patient-doctor relationship.
Prevention takes time, after all. Patient education and empowerment are at the heart of our practice.
Improving Primary Care
Studies claim that increasing primary care time may not offer much return on investment. As a physician, I can’t imagine having a 7-minute with my primary care doctor until I go to visit them every other month.
As I get older, more time is needed, focusing specifically on prevention and testing to determine how well my cardiometabolic system is holding up.
Not to mention, after a visit to the hospital, there are documents and charts to review. I want my PCP to spend enough time to close any gaps.
Primary Care is improved when appointment wait times are shorter and appointment duration is longer. This is access and intuitively would offer a good return on investment.