>>My VA MD is on a 5 day week and an 8 hour day. Unlike my former primary MD, he never runs in to see me out of breath after rushing from an emergency at the hospital.
>>He always sees me at the appointed time and never has to rush me out to meet some other unanticipated pressing need.
>>Why is that bad?
As long as you're content that the number of physician hours and therefore appointment slots now are independent of patient load or your perceived urgency, it's fabulous. Even better is when the physician starts taking an afternoon per week for CME (Continuing Medical Education) and then the quarterly week-long conferences to be sure to keep up with the latest medical advances. Great news for quality of care that physicians are so diligent about staying current.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1