I am not sure providers are entirely blameless. My daughter had an annual checkup, when we were asked if there were other issues, we asked about a bug bite. They charged us for a second emergency visit, what the hell is the point of an annual visit if we can't ask about issues? Insurance company okayed it. So they are both at fault for this insanity.

The most efficient medical experiences I have had have both been ones where there were no insurance involved:

1. A USCIS surgeon, that was like 80 years old, running his own office, everything via check, on paper. Guy put more patients through per day then the big hospital systems special immigrant medical services did.

2. A specialized Eye Surgeon who did my wife's ICL eye surgery (which insurance wont cover). Ended up being the most efficient practice I've seen, every follow up and pre-surgery meeting was not separately billed. Just the surgery was. Eye Doctors / Surgeon spent a ton of time with you. And they had massive amounts of flexibility. But even the out of pocket surgery was probably less than an insurance covered surgery at a hospital.