Why do most doctors today treat their patients like a number?

I've been using the same doctors for years, and for the most part, they don't even remember or know my name let alone anything about me. I always feel rushed during an appointment, especially gyn appts. It's like they have less than 5 mins to spend with you, then they have to rush onto the next patient. Whatever happened to compassion?
I do my best to be an informed patient consumer and always bring a list of questions with me....and will not leave the office until my questions are answered. I feel this is my right to know and care about my health and healthcare and I'm paying for a service, not to be superficially examined and hear "see ya next year."

Get a new doctor. I know plenty of doctors that actually give a crap about me. Do some research on potential new ones. Word of mouth is their biggest form of advertisement... listen to what they have to say.

You can thank insurance HMO's. We are now an assembly line of patients. And it is worst in big cities. I moved to a small town and have a doctor who not only remembers me, but will sit and answer any questions I have. If you are in a big city, try finding a doctor on the outskirts of town, near smaller suburbs. Has worked for me so far.

The problem is that medicine is no longer the doctor running and managing his own office.

The doctor is owned by a corporation now...he's an employee...and for the corporation---TIME IS MONEY---he cannot spend a great deal of time even exchanging pleasantries...his role is to get you in and out and diagnose your problem.

This is the reason that the film "Sicko" was produced: to criticize the emergence of the "Healthcare Managed Organiztion" (HMO) and its treatment of the patient as a mass of tissue instead of a person. You'll just have to cope with these difficulties for the time being until people force a change in the business model.