Opinion: Value-based payments are making it harder to see your primary care doctor on short notice
The current primary care physician workforce cannot sustain value-based payment structures.
Difficulty scheduling an urgent or time-sensitive appointment is now the most common gripe my patients sound off about to my primary care colleagues and me.
Our practice is not the exception — it has become the rule. A 2022 national survey showed that, on average, it takes 20.6 days to get a family medicine appointment. There are many reasons for this, including, most significantly, a shorthanded clinician workforce, with many physicians either leaving primary care or opting for models like concierge medicine, which allow clinicians to care for smaller, more manageable numbers of patients. Not enough medical school graduates are choosing primary care — instead, many are selecting lucrative specialties to offset surging student loan debt and due to perceived lower primary care career satisfaction.
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