Another reason not to wait

If you've been putting off getting a suspicious mole checked-out by a dermatologist, there may be yet another reason not to wait any longer. When you finally decide to make the appointment, you may find that wait times could be as long as 24 days according to this In Business Las Vegas article.

Excerpts:

Need a heart, skin or knee checkup -- take a number.

Specialist shortages are a big problem in the Las Vegas Valley and nationally, which can lead to long waits for doctors' appointments.

Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, a Texas-based company that consults and recruits physicians nationally, studied wait times for new patients in 15 metropolitan areas and found that the number of days it took for a new patient seeking a nonemergency appointment with a cardiologist, dermatologist, OB/GYN or orthopedic surgeon varied from one day to 153 days with an overall average of 18.8 days.

The study focused on Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., San Diego, Seattle and Washington.

• Dermatology appointments for a skin exam to detect potential cancer or melanoma averaged between nine days in New York and 50 days in Boston with an overall average of 24.3 days.