The greater good of society

[samisab786]

Alright, don't jump on me. I want honest but sincere answers. Is it REALLY that difficult to be a caring physician who can give his/her TIME to patients?

Let me tell you why I ask. First, I'm a diabetic. I've been going to the doctors since age 4. I've had some great doctors...I won't forget two of them who lives in North Carolina. They were the only two people that really represented the meaning of Southern hospitality. They'd give me their time, they'd get into friendly conversations, and they really insisted that I go on the insulin pump. But after moving two times afterwards, I didn't encounter such great doctors. One was really nice, he was caring, but he was always in a rush. The other doctor only checked me for two minutes! I have heard that being a doctor today means giving less time to patients and it is difficult being a "helpful" doctor. I have aspired to be an endocrinologist since I was in middle school, but I want to be an endocrinologist because I wanna help people with diabetes. I want to collaborate the concrete and abstract elements of having diabetes...from explaining the effect on internal organs to explaining to them how it feels. But I want to have a career to help people...I'm not even lying. I don't even care if nobody pays me dough. We need more doctors who are happy to see new faces, learn their names, know exactly what goes on. And that is why I want to be a doctor.

Is it really that difficult to do what you do best?

Thanks for the responses!

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[scg]

Time is money.

The more time a doctor spends with one patient the less time he has to treat other patients.

 

[14022]

Time is money.

The more time a doctor spends with one patient the less time he has to treat other patients.

But to be clear, the issue is NOT that spending less time gives bigger profits, which would imply that spending lots of time with patients is somewhat profitable and little time with patients is very profitable. The reality is spending lots of time with patients would make you see so few patients that you couldn't afford to keep your office open.

Reimbursement rates, especially for endocrinologists who are among the lowest paid specialists since they do absolutely nothing in terms of procedures, have gone down significantly since you were 4 years old. So if your docs spend too much time seeing patients, they will actually lose money and won't be able to keep their office open. It is very unfortunate, especially when you don't have time to take care of diabetics who often are very complex since they have multi-system involvement of their disease, but its the reality of our broken health care system.

So yes, it is VERY difficult for your doctor to give you time. However, this should not take away from your doc being caring. The best doctors are like my son's pediatrician, who is incredibly efficient, incredibly kind, and can see us very quickly, answer our questions, and move on to his other patients without making it seem like he is rushing or treating us badly. That is an art that takes a lot of practice.