To the Editor:

The schedule shown in the April 1999 article “Reducing Delays and Waiting Times With Open-Office Scheduling” is so offensive that I must stop in my tracks to write.

I count 33 spaces into which to herd cattle. Don't these physicians have in-house patients, nursing-home patients, phone calls — or kids to have breakfast with? Seeing patients every 15 minutes, essentially all day long, is lousy! It takes a few minutes to read the chart before entering a room and maybe a few minutes to dictate, and what about the “Oh, doctor, while I have you ... ”! All this in the name of “productivity”? One would be racing through a potentially very frustrating day.

I am 53, and it is little wonder that those of us who are older are becoming more and more disenchanted with what we see and experience in all facets of a society that thrives on money.