Lately, I’ve noticed how much lighter the physical exam has become. At some visits, it feels like the provider barely touches you anymore. A few quick questions, maybe a stethoscope to the chest for a second, blood pressure slapped on over your sleeve and that’s about it.

If you’re healthy, with no complaints, maybe that seems fine. But even then, the basics matter. A good physical exam isn’t just routine, it’s prevention.  It’s often where small problems get caught before they snowball.

The troubling part is that even the basics aren’t done right anymore. Something as simple as taking a blood pressure, for example. How often do you see it rushed, legs crossed, cuff over clothes, no rest period? Those little errors can change the numbers enough to affect the care plan. If we don’t get the fundamentals right, how confident can we be in the decisions that follow?

And then there’s mental health. Usually, the “assessment” boils down to: “Do you feel depressed?” That’s not much of an assessment, it’s a checkbox. People don’t open up about mental health on command in a five-minute slot. A better approach might be asking about stress, sleep, or what’s been weighing on them. Those questions create space for honesty.

Why Did This Shift Happen?

So, what happened? Why shift away from hands-on, thoughtful exams? A few reasons stand out:

• Time pressure. Physicians are expected to see more patients in less time, so the exam shrinks.
• The computer screen. Electronic records demand attention, pulling focus away from the patient and toward the keyboard.
• Technology as a crutch. With labs and imaging available, some lean on test results instead of physical findings.
• Insurance & risk management. The system rewards documentation and box-checking more than touch and observation.
• Culture shift. Medicine has leaned into conversation-based care, which is valuable—but it’s not a replacement for the physical exam.

None of this means physicians don’t care. It’s the system they’re working in. But as patients, it leaves us with less confidence that we’ve truly been checked. And that little doubt matters. A hands-on exam isn’t just clinical, it’s reassurance.

How Do We Bring Physicians Back to the Patient?

So how do we bring doctors back to the bedside, back to the point of care, back to us as patients? A few things could help:

• Reclaim time. Shorter slots mean shortcuts. Health systems need to value quality over sheer volume.
• Team-based care. Nurses, MAs, and PAs can share the workload, so physicians can focus on what only they can do: exam, judgment, interpretation.
• Smarter tech. Tools like scribes and voice recognition can free providers from the keyboard and let them stay present with the patient.
• Reinforce training. Medical schools should put more emphasis back on the physical exam—not just lab orders.
• Change what we measure. If insurers and health systems reward good exams and prevention, not just box-checking, priorities will shift.
• Patients can speak up. It’s fair to ask: “Can you check my lungs while I’m here?” or “Would you mind re-taking my blood pressure after I’ve rested?” Small reminders matter.

Finding the Balance

I’m not saying we need to go back to the days of hour-long, head-to-toe assessments for every patient. But we do need balance. Keep the efficiency, but don’t skip the fundamentals. Keep the conversation, but don’t dismiss prevention. Because when the basics are overlooked—when the provider barely touches you—we lose something essential: trust, accuracy and the chance to catch problems early.