The average primary care visit lasts between 15 and 20 minutes. Within that window, clinicians must review history, examine the patient, discuss concerns, make diagnostic decisions, create a treatment plan, and document everything. Every wasted minute has a direct impact on care quality.
Time studies of clinical encounters reveal a sobering pattern: the first several minutes are typically spent on orientation, as the clinician catches up on who the patient is and why they are there. This cognitive startup cost is repeated dozens of times per day, consuming hours of aggregate clinical time.
Medcol eliminates the orientation phase by ensuring clinicians walk into every encounter fully briefed. The AI-generated pre-visit summary provides a concise overview of the patient's reason for visit, relevant history, and any urgent concerns flagged during intake.
This preparation transforms the dynamics of the visit. Instead of starting with 'So what brings you in today?' the clinician can begin with 'I see you have been having increasing knee pain over the past three weeks. Tell me more about that.' This shift signals competence, builds trust, and immediately advances the clinical conversation.
The time recovered from eliminating the cold-start problem compounds throughout the day. A clinic with 25 daily patient encounters that saves just four minutes per visit reclaims over an hour and a half of clinical time daily, time that can be redirected to complex patients, same-day access slots, or reduced overtime.
Quality Metrics That Follow Efficiency
Efficiency without quality is meaningless in healthcare. The prepared visit model improves both simultaneously. When clinicians spend less time gathering basic information, they spend more time on clinical reasoning, physical examination, and patient education, the activities that directly drive outcomes.
Documentation quality also improves. When visits are structured and focused, the resulting notes are more complete and accurate. AI-assisted documentation captures the clinical narrative in real time, reducing the after-hours charting burden that contributes to clinician burnout.
