Fred N. Pelzman, M.D., laments the number of patients who show up unannounced and those who constantly forget their appointments,   even as providers are told to provide ever more “access”.

He suggests:

”The insurance industry should be able to develop a more modern system of monitoring the use of resources by their patients, … maybe by monitoring these things electronically through claims data, actively informing patients each time they use up one of the benefits they have remaining.

”There’s gotta be an app for that …

”Taking the doctors out of this process could improve our quality of life and the satisfaction of our patients. And no doubt the system’s efficiency will also dramatically improve, and savings will undoubtedly follow.”