[USA] Why is it impossible to schedule a doctor's appointment?

A very populated metro area can be a part of the problem, in that the demand is so high. Certain specialists like neurologists seem to have months-long waits as a given, ime... driving a distance, telehealth, or waiting have been my options. I hope you find some luck on the internet today, sometimes a video chat with a curious foreign doctor can be free.

> Or is this the new normal?

Its the new normal! Doctors book out forever, and they overbook.

When you do go there, the actual doctor looks at you for 30 seconds and moves on, like you're on a factory conveyer belt. And the efficiency seems to really drop when you need more than one doctor.

Don't go to the ER either... Go to urgent care first if you can't find someone, and take their referral to the ER or a doctor.

I had this issue in the middle of the pandemic. I don't think it's new. Getting doctor appointments (particularly for new patients) in urban areas has been problematic for years. It seems like, once you're a client, then you're in and able to get time more regularly. For whatever reason, there's frictional issues with accepting new patients.

If you can afford it, join a concierge medicine plan.

I get same day appointments with my doctors. They also respond to emails and text messages. It sucks that I have to pay an extra $4k/year for each adult in my house but we found it really hard to get medical care otherwise.

At least where I am, it is a combination of mass retirements and doctors being unwilling to work as much as before. My family doctor retired after COVID as he didn't want to deal with people anymore.

Urgent Care is probably your best option. I think the name implies a bit more than what it actually is; it's basically a corporatized group practice for general/family docs who don't want the hassle of running their own thing. At least that's been my experience, and I've talked to some quite helpful docs in them.

And for my soap box to anyone reading this - remember it when someone tells you that free/public healthcare creates long waiting times. It may, but we don't seem to be doing great here either.

Foreign resources might actually be helpful.

There are going to be many unanticipated social costs to the criminal overreaction to Covid-19 that we're all going to be paying for for decades. This is just one of them.

Being a PCP isn’t very profitable and pcps don’t really generate large profits for the hospital system so they don’t staff those positions well. The hospital system would prefer that you went to urgent care because they can charge 3-5x as much for the service if it’s urgent. That’s why urgent care clinics are popping up everywhere.

There is a doctor shortage that is set to get worse:

https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/sustainability/...

https://time.com/6199666/physician-shortage-challenges-solut...

The population goes up and the number of doctors hasn't kept pace. They're trying to replace a lot of doctors with cheaper & quicker to train NPs (Nurse Practitioner) for preventative care but that won't occur soon either.

While it is easy to point fingers at COVID-retirements, it isn't that simple. It may have quickened the effects of the shortage but it was coming down the pipe long before COVID. Much like the housing shortage it is failure to plan for and build for a larger population.

There isn't a shortage of people wanting to become doctors, there is a shortage of spots in specialties and a wealthy enough subset of the population who can support their children through their mid-late 20s while they make negative income (inc. residency).

I have kaiser and never had these problems.

Travel to Mexico and back if its something not too serious