In order to accommodate more patients and shorten appointment waiting times, the New York City public hospital system (NYC Health + Hospitals) has instructed doctors to reduce the consultation time per patient for primary care by half.
According to internal briefing documents obtained by the Gothamist news website, hospital leadership has mandated doctors to reduce the consultation time from 40 minutes to 20 minutes per visit. Stephanie Buhle, a spokesperson for the public hospital system, confirmed via email that this measure will be implemented starting this fall. She stated that since 2021, the public hospital system has seen an increase of approximately 50,000 patients, leading to longer appointment waiting times. Healthcare is a fundamental human right, and hospitals must provide primary care services to all patients.
According to the latest Mayor’s Management Report released in January of this year, the enrollment in NYC Care, a low-cost health insurance provided by the city for low-income residents and undocumented immigrants, has increased by 16% since last year. Patients insured under NYC Care receive primary care services from the public hospital system, resulting in a doubling of the average appointment waiting time for adult patients in the public hospital system from 11 days to 22 days compared to last year. The average appointment waiting time for pediatric patients has also increased by 40%, from 15 days to 21 days. As a result, the public hospital system has found it necessary to request that doctors reduce the consultation time per patient.
However, according to Gothamist’s report, some doctors express concerns that halving the consultation time may compromise the quality of care, leading doctors to become overwhelmed and seek employment at private hospitals, further exacerbating the shortage of medical staff within the public hospital system. Dr. Frances Quee, Chair of the SEIU Union Doctors Committee representing doctors in the public hospital system, criticized this approach as using the wrong method to address systemic problems. She argued that the public hospital system should hire more doctors instead of requiring doctors to shorten consultation times to accommodate more patients.