Random Questions

You can drizzle your fruit salad with amaretto, and put some lemon zest and chopped spearmint on it.

Not a question exactly, but this seems like the best place to mention that both helicopter parent and snowplow parent were responses on Jeopardy! today.

What is a snowplow parent?

Sorry I can’t figure out how to paste links but if you search on this site you should be able to see examples. Basically parents clearing the path for the kid. Apparently it’s a common enough term that it made it to jeopardy.

Be careful with “lactose free.” Many products have a small enough serving size that the lactose quantity rounds down to zero, but they are not without lactose. Depending on how sensitive people are, it can be an issue. Ask me how I know… I can’t touch parmesan cheese, I can have a taste of cheddar, and I can only tolerate a couple spoonfuls of a some “lactose free” ice creams. It’s wonderful that there are now so many dairy free and vegan options!

The fruit salad is a good idea, or it is apple pie season!

Speaking of apples. A new breed is coming, called Cosmic Crisp. Supposed to be better than Honeycrisp (my fav.) A cross between HC and Enterprise. I saw December in WA state (where it was developed.)

I just made 2 loaves of zucchini bread. Lactose free!

My favorite apples are Macintosh! Yum!

Cosmic Crisp is in our stores. Have not yet tried. My favorite is Pink Lady.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50048782

I know some folks who have been involved in developing IP covering this apple. Kudos to WSU for developing it. Hope it will bring some royalty $$ to their tech transfer.

How long do you think US appointments with primary care MDs average?

How long do you think people average commuting to get there and spend waiting at the clinic?

I’m doing a talk and researched these questions. The answers are consistent with what patients have been telling me and our personal experiences. I promise to post the answers after there are a few guesses.

Both Mr and I had recent appointments with our primary physicians, and we both had this experience. Wait at the clinic after arriving as requested - 20-30 min, nurse taking BP etc. - 5-10 min, actual doc time - about 10 min.

Any other guesses on time?

Back in OH, I drove 15 minutes to my physicians office and generally waited less than 15 minutes to see my doctor. Most appointments lasted no more than 15 minutes. So 30 minutes travel/wait for a 15 minute appointment.

My MD in IL, I can walk to his office in under 15 minutes, he took me early, and spent nearly an hour with me. I was a new patient for him so I’m assuming my appointments going forward are not going to be that long.

Not totally related but our dentist, also within walking distance, texts if she’s running more than 10 minutes behind.

Well, I have had a lot of different experiences with various MDs. Some appointments last 10-20 minutes while others are literally an hour!

I’ve had a range of wait times as well, from under 15 minutes to well over several HOURS!

The most recent Harvard study I found online said that the average Bangladesh appt is 48 seconds! The Swedish average is 22.5 minutes. The US average was 20 minutes! They also found that average US travel time was 37 minutes plus 84 minutes clinic time so total average of 121 minutes in US seeing a MD.

Kristen N Ray, et al, Am J of ManGed Care 8/18/2015.

My PCP is about 10 minutes away from my house. When I go for an annual checkup, he spends about 15 minutes with me in the exam room and another 5 minutes or so in his office. When I go if I am sick – not for a checkup – he spends about 10 minutes with me total.

The real question is… Was there anything else to do for your during that visit? I end all my visits with “Do you have any further questions or concerns”? If the answer is no then that is a signal to me that I am done. That can be a 5 minute quick check up on a problem or a 45 minute consult.

Does it matter how long a medical provider takes with you as long as your needs/questions are answered and/or addressed?

A bigger concern might be the waiting time - not the time in the exam room as long as needs are being met.

You can make me a happy camper by not having me wait too long in the exam room for the doctor. I absolutely hate that dead time between being called into the exam room, finishing with the nurse/MA and then waiting alone for the provider.

I chanced doctors a few times in OH because the wait times were unacceptably long. I refuse to wait more 30 minutes tops, and that needs to be a one off unless staff is communicating very clearly with me about the delay.

I have never had a delay seeing my doctor once I’ve arrived at the office.

I have quit several MDs for wait times of over two hours—no excuse, no apology, just no consideration for patients. Both of the MDs were very unhelpful as well and after making me wait so long, acted as if it was MY fault they were so behind!