US patients spend substantially less time in primary care compared to other countries:
The substantially shorter time per capita in the US was the biggest difference we saw in our study. Such a severe shortfall impacts preventive care and management of chronic conditions in the US and could explain why the US does not achieve health outcomes that correspond to its higher level of investment in health care,” said study lead author Andrew Bindman, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco.
An easy way to remedy this would be for Medicare to reimburse a routine preventive exam – instead of their one-time only “Welcome to Medicare” physical.
