Jan 19, 2010

California orders shorter wait times to see a doctor

05:48 PM

It won't happen until next year, but millions of Californians will have shorter waits to see a doctor or get a call-back, the Associated Press reports.

Tomorrow, the state's Department of Managed Health Care will announce new rules that set time limits on when physicians must see patients and return phone their calls.

• A limit of 10 business days on the appointment time to see a family practitioner.

• A 15-day window to see a specialist.

• 48 hours for urgent care.

• 30 minutes for a doctors' offices to return telephone calls.

Although the new regulations apply only to doctors in health maintenance organizations, they will cover roughly 21 million Californians.

Read the complete regs. http://wpso.dmhc.ca.gov/regulations/regs/?key=20

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... a-doctor/1