Why The Doctor's Always Late

Patients wait an average of about 20 minutes at doctors’ offices, according to national data from healthcare consultants. It’s a major annoyance for patients who are stuck leafing through dated magazines, and worrying about work piling up on their desks.

What’s the hold-up? What’s happening behind that waiting room door?

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Maiken Scott of WHYY wanted to find out, so she spent a morning with Dr. Peter Gearhart of Penn Ob/Gyn and Midwifery Care, a busy practice in Philadelphia.