WASHINGTON — Alarmed by a shortage of primary care doctors, Obama administration officials are recruiting a team of “mystery shoppers” to pose as patients, call doctors’ offices and request appointments to see how difficult it is for people to get care when they need it.
Complete article here.
The government could survey consumers directly, but patients may not accurately recall how long it took to get an appointment, and their estimates could be colored by their satisfaction with the doctor, researchers said.
Let me understand this. The government could ask consumers directly, but, gee, they might've been satisfied with the service and therefore their opinions would be "colored?"
I understand that there's a shortage of physicians. What I don't understand is why hassling them is going to improve the problem.
Weird.
