Getting an appointment with primary care is the Achilles’ heel of medicine

<p>"'Doctor, it’s taken so long to get this appointment with you!' This is the opening line of so many medical visits, and I find myself constantly apologizing to my patients on behalf of our system. After the pandemic-induced lull in routine medical care, we’re right back where we started—doctors booked for months, patients struggling to get appointments.</p> <p>The difficulty with access to medical care is endemic to our entire medical system. Even before the pandemic, less than a fifth of American doctors were able to take new patients, and more than 80 percent were at capacity or over-extended. Some 16,000 medical practices closed down because of the pandemic. This is especially concerning in primary care, which is on track for a shortage of up to 48,000 physicians. It’s not surprising that lack of access to primary care doctors is associated with higher mortality."</p> <p><a href="https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/danielle-ofri" target= "_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow external" data-wpel-link="external">Danielle Ofri</a> is an internal medicine physician and editor-in-chief, <a href= "http://www.blreview.org/" target="_blank" rel= "nofollow noopener noreferrer external" data-wpel-link= "external">Bellevue Literary Review</a>, and is the author of <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807037885/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=kevcom-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0807037885&linkId=2ad77a5476f375de0c87237cf0642df3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow external" data-wpel-link="external">When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error</a>.</p> <p>She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "<a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/2022/07/getting-an-appointment-with-primary-care-is-the-achilles-heel-of-medicine.html">Getting an appointment with primary care is the Achilles’ heel of medicine</a>."</p> <p><strong>Did you enjoy today’s episode?</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.kevinmdpodcast.com/rate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rate and review</a> the show so