Doctors and patients often lament the lack of time they spend with each other. An interesting study suggests that it doesn’t matter:

In five studies conducted in the United Kingdom, doctors did not discuss more problems, prescribe more drugs, run more tests, make more referrals or do more examinations when they had a few additional minutes with patients.

More importantly, patients did not feel more satisfied when they spent more time with the physician.

There is a subset of the population who want quick, brief interactions with their physicians. These typically are those who are younger and healthier.

Doctors who spend less face to face time with patients are more often on schedule and on time. Some patients value that punctualness and it shouldn’t be discounted.