Americans are Spending A Lot of Time Seeking Medical Care

Filed in archive Cases on June 24, 2006

CNN.com reports that the number of doctor visits in the United States are growing at triple the rate of population growth. In 2004, 1 billion people went to see physicians in emergency departments, private offices, and at outpatient clinics. That's a 31 percent increase from 1994's numbers. At the same time, the population in that time period rose 11 percent. These numbers were reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the report, almost half of the visits were to primary care doctors in office-based practices; 18 percent were to medical specialists;16 percent were to surgical specialists, and ten percent were to emergency departments in hospitals.

Those enrolled in Medicaid or entirely lacking health insurance tended to use hospitals more often, which is a concern for many health care officials. Emergency rooms are required by federal law to serve everyone, but the greater number of patients coming through their doors is overwhelming staff members and causing patients to wait longer for medical care. In 1997, the average wait time in an emergency room was 38 minutes compared to 47 minutes in 2004. That extra waiting time might be particularly concerning to patients who are critically ill or injured.

The average length of visit to a doctor's office, which was 16 minutes of face-to-face time with a physician, stayed the same. The most common diagnosis was high blood pressure, while diagnoses of diabetes rose 117 percent and diagnoses of spinal disorders rose 94 percent.

About the author: In her spare time, knotheadus writes for Epinions.com and maintains her own Web site, knot-heads.com.