Notice the contradiction in this passage. On the one hand, most physicians believe the requirements of insurance companies now "prevent them from spending enough time with patients." Yet at the same time, the "average amount of time a patient spends with a physician during an office visit has actually increased somewhat over the last ten years."
So although physicians feel they're spending too little time patients, ever since the requirements were implemented ten years ago, they've actually been spending more time with patients. The correct answer should help resolve this "apparent discrepancy."
Let's now consider the answer choices:
Quote:
Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy between physicians’ perceptions and the change in the actual time spent?
A. Patients are more likely to be in a hurry nowadays and are less willing to wait a long time to see their physician.
This concerns the time patients spend
waiting to see physicians, not the amount of time they spend
with physicians. Since it doesn't affect the amount of time physicians actually spend with patients, we can discard (A).
Quote:
B. Physicians today typically have a wider range of options in diagnosis and treatment to consider with the patient before prescribing.
If physicians had a wider range of diagnosis and treatments options to consider today, they may need more time with patients than they did in the past. This could explain why physicians today feel they get too little time with patients DESPITE having more time than they did in the past. Let's hold on to (B).
Quote:
C. Physicians are increasingly likely to work in group practices, sharing the responsibility of night and weekend work.
The fact that physicians are in group practices wouldn't affect the amount of time they'd spend with patients in any clear way. Discard (C).
Quote:
D. Most patients would rather trust their physicians than their insurance companies to make decisions about their treatment.
The question of trust has no direct relation to the length of physician office visits. Get rid of (D).
Quote:
E. Since the insurance companies pay physicians a set amount for each office visit, it is to physicians’ financial advantage to see as many Patients as possible.
This would give physicians a financial incentive to shorten their office visits with patients. It would not, however, explain why physicians today feel they get too little time with each patient DESPITE having more time than in the past. (E) is out.
That leaves us with (B), the correct answer.
I hope that helps!
08 May 2022, 08:45
45% (02:06) correct
