Why “15 Minute Prescriptions” Aren’t Cutting It and What You Can Do to Take Control of Your Care

Every patient is unique, with their own history, lifestyle, and set of circumstances that, together, cause the symptoms they’re experiencing when they visit a primary care doctor. Unfortunately, physicians often have very little time to dig through these various factors in order to find the root cause of the problem – so, more often than not, they don’t. Symptoms are isolated and diagnoses are determined within minutes, after which prescriptions are written. If a patient is lucky, their prescribed medication works to reduce their symptoms. That is the present structure of our primary care system, and it is flawed: dialogue between patients and physicians is brief, the doctor-patient relationship is more often superficial, and root causes generally go unidentified. Luckily, this conventional model of patient care is not the only way; another rising approach makes it possible to take control of your care. As functional medicine rises in popularity, a more holistic approach is becoming accessible to patients.

Conventional Medicine by the Numbers

According to a study conducted by the NCBI, the median primary care visit in the United States lasts 15.7 minutes. Of these 15 minutes, only five minutes are spent addressing the patient’s primary problem – and an average of 1.1 minutes was spent on other issues they were experiencing. In general, patients only spoke about their primary health concerns for a total of 2.3 minutes.

The numbers are straightforward enough: conventional primary care visits are problematically short, giving both patients and doctors very little time to even attempt taking a holistic approach to treatment. Far more often than not, this leads doctors to give their the prescription pad solution that, in the best-case scenario, treats the presenting symptoms with very little regard for potential underlying issues.

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A More Functional Alternative

With the rise of the Internet, patients are more informed than ever – and are (rightfully) seeking out primary care solutions that feel more effective. Because of these issues with our current healthcare system, the functional medicine approach has become increasingly popular as a result of this dissatisfaction with the status quo.

As a complete foil to the fast-paced, surface-level conventional approach, functional medicine prioritizes holistic care above all. It is primarily concerned with getting to the root cause of patients’ symptoms by deep-diving into their lifestyle (sleep, diet, physical activity, etc.), personal history, genetic information, psychological circumstances, and symptoms in order to come up with long-term solutions and preventative measures. To this end, physicians practicing functional medicine make it a priority to have enough time with their patients: at Robinson MD, for instance, the average new patient visit lasts between 60 and 90 minutes, and this is standard in the functional approach. Ultimately, functional medicine allows you, the patient, to better take control of your care by understanding why your symptoms are presenting, how your unique set of characteristics contributes to your symptoms, and what is in your power to change or improve in order to feel better.

Functional medicine is revolutionizing the way doctors and patients approach primary care. It places the emphasis on digging deep to find underlying causes and come up with long-term solutions. If you’re wondering whether functional medicine is the best approach for you, we suggest you take our free assessment. If you’d like to schedule a visit with Dr. Stacey, just click here.

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