15 Minutes of Gain?

They just don’t get it.

“They” are researchers at Britain’s University of Leicester and University of Northumbria who wrote a review of five studies that looked at whether there were any benefits to seeing a patient in the office for more than the usual allotted 15 minutes.

All of the studies were conducted in the United Kingdom and all found that when given a few additional minutes to spend with patients, “doctors didn’t discuss more problems, prescribe more drugs, run more tests, make more referrals or do more examinations,” according to a story that appeared on the Web site of the Health Behavior News Service.

About the only thing doctors did with the few extra minutes, according to the studies, was to spend more time discussing how patients could take better control of their health.

Hello.

Isn’t this a terribly important addition to the office visit?

Isn’t talking to patients about how to better care for their health a really good thing? A necessary thing?

I was dismayed by the reviewers devaluation of such a vital part of the doctor-patient relationship which—and this is my speculation—probably doesn’t happen very often because mostly there just isn’t the time during a regular office visit.

Most medical offices book patients into 15-minute time slots. That might be adequate for seeing a 25-year-old with a sore throat, but it’s not nearly enough time for the elderly patient who brings a bag full of prescription drugs (and maybe some others), has mobility problems, diminished hearing and/or eyesight, and is living with several chronic illnesses.

When it comes to caring for these patients, it takes a village—or at least a team of health professionals who can meet all of the patients’ medical, psychological and social needs. And that can only happen if the primary care doctors at the helm have time to figure out just what those needs are.

Certainly it takes more than just 15 minutes.