Century Medical & Dental Center

A Quality Internal Medicine, Primary Care Physician is Worth the Wait

A common complaint among patients is the time they spend waiting to be seen by their doctor. Oftentimes a patient can wait as long as an hour after their appointment was scheduled to begin. In these cases, patients may become frustrated by the delay and opt to choose another doctor. While there are valid concerns about waiting times, a quality internal medicine physician is well worth the wait.

Purpose of seeing a doctor

The differences between a good doctor and one who overly emphasizes the business aspect of his or her practice are important. The purpose of seeing a doctor is to receive the best treatment and advice possible. Many times getting the very best and most thorough care available means a visit that extends past the time anticipated during scheduling. A patient could choose a doctor who emphasizes scheduling efficiency over all else but to do so would be to compromise your ability to receive adequate care.

Good care is worth the wait

The reasons behind the aforementioned delays are as numerous as they are significant. Many times a doctor is delayed with a patient because extra time is necessary to ensure that the patient is sufficiently briefed on the condition of their illness or injury. Making sure that a patient is clear as to their diagnosis and prognosis is one way to ensure that the patient will follow the prescribed treatment regimen. By following the physician’s orders, the patient is given the best hope for a successful recovery.

Factors and procedures that contribute to an overextended schedule include a physician taking time to listen to the patient before arriving at a diagnosis. A doctor has to be able to communicate effectively with a patient in order to discern the precise medical situation. After hearing the detailed and specific complaints from a patient, a doctor will need to ask often several questions to pinpoint the exact cause of the patient’s illness or injury. Even after a thorough questioning and listening of the patient the precise cause of the injury or illness may not be determined. In these cases, further tests are required and will likely lead to a longer visit than anticipated.

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