Here are five key points:
1. Of the 121 minutes, a patient spends an average of 37 minutes traveling, 64 minutes waiting for care or filling out forms and a mere 20 minutes of facetime with the physician, according to the study.
2. Researchers deduced a patient loses $43 in lost time for each medical visit, which costs more than the average $32 out-of-pocket cost.
3. Researchers estimated Americans spend 1.1 billion hours each year getting medical care for themselves or others. This amounts to approximately $52 billion in lost time.
4. The wait times greatly impact the disadvantaged populations with unemployed individuals spending 25 percent to 28 percent more time seeking healthcare because of longer wait times in the clinic.
5. To reduce wait times, researchers suggest enhancing office efficiency by putting clinics in schools, community centers and work places. Medical practices can also utilize telemedicine because some conditions can be handled with a simple phone call or e-mail.
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