You will focus on the description of the current policy, a description of key stakeholders, and a description of key factors or multidisciplinary impacts for the policy. This section should demonstrate a good understanding of the policy. The overview of the current policy should provide details about the policy being analyzed as well as a description of the target audience for the policy. Describe the key stakeholders who have a significant interest in the problem being addressed by the policy. The key factors, or multidisciplinary impacts, are those factors that affect stakeholder viewpoints that need to be considered when analyzing the policy problem. These factors can include:
Practical factors (e.g., is it realistic to solve this problem at this time?)Epidemiological and medical factorsEconomic factorsPolitical factorsEthical factors
Part 2 will include the following components in a narrative:
VII. Key Factors/Multidisciplinary Impacts
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Back ground for the Problem
The problem of less time spent with doctors during appointment visits that typically last
for a standard 15 minutes or less has gained excessive attention over the years. Moreover, the trend
has elicited concerns among healthcare policymakers, professionals, and patients. According to
the American Medical Association (AMA), the standard duration for a doctor’s appointment is 15
minutes, thus establishing the premise that it would be enough for medical consultations (Solomon,
2008). Nevertheless, multiple variables have called for a review of this antique practice. To begin
with, the instances where the doctor’s visit is constrained to 15 minutes imply that the appointment
would address a few issues and thus diminish the in-depth understanding. Therefore, Mechanic et
al. (2001) claim that the time-consuming psychological health determinants would be unattended
within the stipulated duration. The consequences of this are declined patient satisfaction, congested
emergency service utilization, and noncompliance to diagnosis plans (Geraghty et al., 2007).
The most recent study has indicated that 53 percent of healthcare providers experience time
pressure during clinical encounters. For this reason, many providers described exhaustion and
expressed fear of making clinical errors (Mechanic et al., 2001). Moreover, some healthcare
providers employ a free-for-service system that needs to be better developed to deliver
comprehensive care. As a result, some healthcare providers feel like they are on the manufacturing
line instead of engaging in a mission to treat the sick and diagnose chronic illnesses. Mechanic et
al. (2001) state that the standard duration prescribed by AMA needs to be longer as the current one
allows patients to initiate a few topics, ask a few questions and curtly answer the questions. As a
result, the doctors may underestimate the severity of their conditions (Solomon, 2008).
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Why the problem has been selected
The selected problem for analysis is an important aspect of delivering quality primary care
due to its impact on patient outcomes. According to Mechanic et al. (2001), insurance providers
pay clinics, hospitals, and doctors enough to justify the limited 15-minute doctor visits. Manganelli
(2016) further states that the conventional 15-minute time frame for doctor-patient interactions has
existed for a long time and is thus critical to evaluate its adequacy in the modern healthcare
landscape. Multiple reasons justify the selection of the problem:
Dynamic healthcare landscape: In recent years, the healthcare landscape has significantly
revolutionized through advances in medical technology, increased chronic illness, and an aging
population. For this reason, there is a need to enjoy the real benefits of allowing enough visit times
for primary care, such as low hospital utilization and emergency care, improved patient
satisfaction, reduced unnecessary referrals, and few ill-advised diagnostic treatments (Geraghty et
al., 2007).
The complexity of health issues: Multiple health issues have increasingly become
complex, and thus, there is a need for enough time for diagnosis, patient education, and treatment.
Moreover, patients with several chronic conditions typically need long consultations to manage
their health concerns effectively (Mechanic et al., 2001). Delivering efficient care to patients for a
long duration could avoid the changing needs of the patients, thus resulting in better results and
providing access by minimizing the necessity for return visits (Manganelli, 2016).
Effective Patient-Centered Care: The paradigm shift towards patient care focuses on
shared decision-making, addressing patient concerns, and active listening. However, the current
visit restriction interferes with this technique’s implementation. Additionally, Manganelli (2016)
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claims that more time improves communication and would result in clinician satisfaction and wellbeing, critical features in handling the current crisis of dilapidating primary care employees.
Minimizing medical errors: Consultations done hastily can result in medical errors,
missed opportunities, and misdiagnosis in preventive care, which immensely causes severe
consequences in patient health.
Issue Importance and why it needs urgent attention
The 15-minute doctor visit is a significant issue and needs immediate attention for multiple
reasons. Firstly, there is a need to extend the consultation duration to facilitate effective patient
outcomes. Therefore, adequate time provides room for a robust assessment, discussion on
diagnosis options, patient awareness education, and thus, more improved and informed health
decisions (Felix, 2014). Secondly, the long doctor visits will ensure efficient care delivery in
facilities. For this reason, doctors can ask more comprehensive questions, consider a wide range
of options for diagnosis, and evaluate all the treatment alternatives that will enhance healthcare
quality (Manganelli, 2016). Thirdly, the individual patients will feel that their health concerns are
heard, and questions are answered more comprehensively with their healthcare experience. As a
result, there will be high patient retention and compliance with treatment plans. Fourthly, the study
will also examine how longer visits of more than 15 minute offers an opportunity for health
education and preventive patient care. Ultimately, the strategy will reduce the chronic illness
burden and promote healthy lifestyles (Zhu et al., 2010). Finally, despite seeming
counterproductive, longer doctor visits can improve the healthcare system. Moreover,
comprehensive tackling of the initial patient issues can result in efficiency in the system. As a
result, addressing these issues more comprehensively during initial visits would result in low
follow-up appointments and less expensive medical interventions in the long run (Felix, 2014).
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Problem Statement
Time is a critical aspect provided by doctors to their patients. However, in most cases,
patients feel that they need more time during the doctor’s visits, and doctors normally feel hasty
in their efforts to offer quality care despite being confronted with insurmountable pressure to offer
quality care and engage more patients (Zhu et al., 2010). For this reason, the current standard
duration for visiting physicians for an appointment has been associated with patient dissatisfaction,
low delivery of quality care, and reduced patient outcomes (Geraghty et al., 2007). However,
studies examining the duration of a doctor’s visit have needed clarification on the impact of the
case mix. Furthermore, there is a wide consensus that primary care has declined considerably the
length of patient visits to the doctors for appointments. The case mix of office-based doctor visits
has become more multifaceted; thus, the average length of the visit may have amplified rather than
declined. For this reason, there is a need for more time for each visit (Zhu et al., 2010).
The problem at hand is the antiquated practice of limiting the doctor’s visit to standard 15
minutes, which is no longer enough to satisfy the dynamic healthcare needs of patients. The
practice has existed since the era when healthcare was less complex and no longer conforms to the
multifaceted healthcare demands in modern society (Manganelli, 2016). The issue is important
because it focuses on the critical discrepancy between the system’s structure and patients’ needs.
The problematic time issue interferes with the outcomes of the patients by preventing the depth of
medical assessments and lessening the time available for discussing treatments (Solomon, 2008).
Therefore, it compromises the overall quality of healthcare, causing misdiagnosis and facilitating
a fragmented strategy for patient care. Additionally, the paper looks at how limited doctor visits
5
impact patient satisfaction since individuals feel the session has been rushed. Their issues have yet
to be heard during the visit. Therefore, the patients feel detached from the healthcare process, thus
resulting in declined patient engagement and compliance with a diagnosis plan (Zhu et al., 2010).
There is a need for an urgent paradigm shift in healthcare where the system must recognize the
importance of increasing the doctor-patient consultations designed for the unique needs of patients.
Therefore, the shift will be critical in efficiently addressing modern healthcare’s complexities, thus
ensuring better patient outcomes, satisfaction, and overall health quality (Geraghty et al., 2007).
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References
Geraghty, E. M., Franks, P., & Kravitz, R. L. (2007, October 6). Primary Care Visit Length,
Quality, and Satisfaction for Standardized Patients with Depression. Journal of General
Internal Medicine, 22(12), 1641–1647. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0371-5
Mechanic, D., McAlpine, D. D., & Rosenthal, M. (2001, January 18). Are Patients’ Office Visits
with Physicians Getting Shorter? New England Journal of Medicine, 344(3), 198–204.
https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm200101183440307
Solomon, J. (2008, March 26). How Strategies for Managing Patient Visit Time Affect Physician
Job Satisfaction: A Qualitative Analysis. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23(6),
775–780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0596-y
Manganelli, T. E. (2016). Improving Communication Between Cancer Patients and Providers
During a 15-Minute Office Visit: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Dissertation at
Walden University.
Felix. (2014). The 15-Minute Visit: How Can Primary Care Better Identify and Treat
Depression? Consultant 360. https://www.consultant360.com/articles/15-minute-visithow-can-primary-care-better-identify-and-treat-depression
Zhu, Z., Heng, B. H., & Teow, K. L. (2010, August 5). Analysis of Factors Causing Long Patient
Waiting Time and Clinic Overtime in Outpatient Clinics. Journal of Medical Systems,
36(2), 707–713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-010-9538-4
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