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The Medical Waiting Game;When Long Delays Are a Particular Hardship

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From: The Washington Post
Date: 19900501
Author:Howard Markel

As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once mused, "All things come 'round to him who will but wait." But when it comes to health care, the only thing worse than having to see a physician is waiting to see one.

For most of us who are healthy and only visit a doctor occasionally, the medical waiting game is grudgingly tolerated. Many of us consider it part of being health conscious, a temporary annoyance like a blood test or the doctor's annual lecture to eat less. But for a growing number of patients with debilitating or chronic illnesses, those whose medical condition requires frequent visits to a ...

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