If one takes a visit to a doctor’s office, he or she will notice even there is only one or two patients waiting, there are quite a few more medical assistants that seems needed. They would take one specific task for each of them: one is taking incoming phone calls; one is making appointments for patients just coming out of the doctor’s visit; one is greeting the incoming patients, one would take patients back to see the doctor, and one would take notes during the patient’s visit. Recall the cost – benefit principle holds that we should take those actions, and only those actions, whose benefits exceed their costs. As high – skilled and seemingly rational as these physicians are, why are they willing to bear such a high fixed cost?
Usually a visit or a check up with a doctor is very costly, to the patients that is. We pay such a high medical bill for a-few-minute visit and advice. The way it works at the one-or-two-doctor-clinic is that they schedule such appointments so closed together that there is always a few patients waiting. When the patients come in, they are told to sign in. Then they will be taken back to the room where they see the doctor. And finally they come out and schedule their next appointment. The doctor’s goal is seeing as many patients, and then moving on to the next one as quickly as possible, because this is how they bill their patients. Having divided up the tasks to various medical assistants will ensure the patient flows not only smoothly but also as quickly as possible. When the doctor finishes seeing a patient, he or she already has another patient waiting in the next room so that he or she can just continue seeing without worrying what’s going on in the front. He or she will generate much more revenue because the task now is just and only s ...