The average wait time for a physician in Dallas in 2012 was more than 19 minutes, according to a report by Vitals, a healthcare survey organization that analyzed data from more than 870,000 U.S. physicians.
The wait time for Texas physicians was more than 22 minutes, which ranked No. 42 out of the 50 states. Alaska had the shortage average wait time at more than 16 minutes while Mississippi had the longest at more than 24 minutes.
“As the supply of qualified doctors remains unchanged, the new health care law requires 30 million more Americans to have health insurance,” said Mitch Rothschild, CEO of Vitals.com, in a statement. “This flood of new demand is causing a major disruption to the system. For the unchanging supply of doctors, it will mean less time to spend with patients in examination rooms. It also has a direct impact on how long it takes to see a doctor—and ultimately weighs into how consumers choose their providers.”
