U.S. health care is causing patient burnout

Confession: I’ve lived in New York City for more than five years, and I still haven’t gotten around to finding a primary-care doctor here. The idea of searching for a provider who’s conveniently located, in my insurance network, and (perhaps hardest of all) accepting new patients makes my eyes glaze over.

My own experience is just one small example of a phenomenon we’ve dubbed “patient burnout.” To put it bluntly, going to the doctor in the U.S. often sucks. Patients are tired of the long waits, rushed appointments, and high bills, and like I did, they’re responding by delaying or avoiding care entirely, which could have consequences for both individual and public health.

There’s no easy solution to the problem. But, even without huge structural changes, the health care system could become more patient-centric. One burned-out patient suggested things like centralized medical-record databases that multiple providers could access and online directories of doctors currently accepting new patients. These innovations wouldn’t fix everything, she said, but they’d be a step in the right direction.

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