To rein in costs, insurance companies have set fees lower and lower, and doctors work faster and faster, especially when they are in large medical networks that require them to cram in a set number of visits per day. Compounding all these issues, health care is divided into silos, with each specialist operating individually, keeping their own records, and referring patients who need to see other specialists to their own favored doctors. The model works especially poorly for autoimmunity and other chronic illnesses: no one is in charge of coordinating care.
