Reclaiming America’s Time: Cicero’s Solution to Reduce Healthcare Waiting Periods
Americans are being forced to wait longer for health care than ever before. In a clear indictment of the current state of our nation’s healthcare landscape, a new AMN Healthcare survey found that physician wait times have reached a point where it takes a patient close to a month to schedule an appointment with a physician. This five-day increase from just three years ago makes clear that change is desperately needed to secure the quality of care Americans deserve.
Physician wait times have reached these unreasonable levels because ongoing physician shortages limit access and administrative burdens currently associated with patient care continue to severely restrict physicians’ ability to carry out their jobs. As to the former, a quarter of all Americans reside within a Primary Care Health Physician shortage area, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. To serve these high-need areas, approximately 14,000 trained medical practitioners would be necessary. As this is unlikely, shortages are expected to persist. A recent study by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that America could be short as many as 86,000 physicians by 2036.
Alongside shortages, physicians are having to spend valuable time on burdensome administrative tasks. One study showed that physicians spend 44.9 percent of their working hours on electronic health records, and another stated that primary care physicians spend close to two hours on electronic records for every one hour spent on direct patient care. This means that many physicians are forced to spend time filling out electronic records that could be better spent providing direct patient care.
To address increasing wait times, the Cicero Institute advocates for a two-pronged state-level solution: increasing access to healthcare providers paired with the implementation of supplementary AI to allow physicians to shift from administrative work to spending valuable hours on direct patient care.
While physician wait times have increased, states continue to ignore an invaluable resource that is waiting on the sidelines: international physicians. These physicians, with years of experience in providing care in their home nations, are forced to deal with redundant residency requirements and overbearing licensing processes, which disincentivize them from practicing medicine in the U.S. However, states can streamline the process to get these physicians licensed and practicing medicine to add well-trained healthcare providers ready to provide underserved patients with quality care.
License reform should also extend to easing pathways for telehealth across state lines. Currently, many physicians are deterred from obtaining licenses to practice in states outside their state of residency due to the fees associated with holding multiple licenses and the lengthy application process for licensure. Reducing the number of hoops that a physician has to go through to practice medicine virtually from other states would allow physicians in well-served areas and communities to offer their services virtually to those that are underserved. This would benefit states on both sides of the equation, as states with low numbers of providers would receive increased healthcare coverage, and states with a surplus of providers would receive an economic boon from out-of-state patient telehealth care provision.
States can further amplify these improvements by allowing pharmacists to practice to the full extent of their training. Ninety percent of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy. That means that 90 percent of Americans are within a five-minute drive of a medical practitioner who has been trained to manage chronic health conditions and diagnose and care for minor health issues such as allergies, flu, and colds. However, Americans are barred from accessing this care by overregulation, which prevents pharmacists from practicing to the full extent of their training. Instead of providing essential care, pharmacists are often relegated by states to filling prescriptions and instructing patients on how to take their medication properly. By limiting regulations and empowering pharmacists to practice using their training, states would be able to shift the burdens of care for minor health issues away from physicians.
Alongside licensing reform, states should also be cautious not to overregulate Artificial Intelligence and ensure that the private sector has the freedom to implement AI safely into its businesses. The freedom to use AI would enable care providers to reduce administrative burdens, allowing them to focus on direct patient care. Already, AI companies have created services that reduce administrative costs, record patient and doctor conversations, and streamline the authorization process for insurance companies to approve treatment coverage. These innovations are expected to continue increasing, and each one that allows for more direct patient time for physicians is a win for the healthcare community.
As the recent AMN Healthcare survey shows, America’s healthcare system is causing patients to wait longer and longer to see a physician. The Cicero Institute believes that by expanding access to care through telehealth, addressing physician shortages with international physicians, authorizing pharmacists to practice to the full extent of their training, and implementing AI to reduce administrative burdens, states can ensure that citizens get off the waiting list and on to the care they need.
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