A new survey found long wait times for a variety of specialists. The survey of 1,399 medical offices, conducted by Merritt Hawkins, a national physician search and consulting firm and a company of AMN Healthcare, tracked the average time needed to schedule a doctor appointment in 15 large metropolitan areas. The survey reports average doctor appointment wait times in five different medical specialties: cardiology, dermatology, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedic surgery and family practice.
The survey indicated that Boston has the longest average doctor appointment wait times of the 15 metro markets examined in the survey: 72 days to see a dermatologist, 66 days to see a family physician, 46 days to see an ob/gyn, 27 days to see a cardiologist, and 16 days to see an orthopedic surgeon. On average, it takes over 45 days to schedule a doctor appointment in the Boston area, the survey indicates.
Other average physician appointment wait times tracked by the survey include 49 days to see a dermatologist in Philadelphia. Physician appointment wait times tracked in the survey varied from as little as one day to over eight months, with an overall average in all metro areas and all specialties of about 19 days.
The survey also tracked how many physician practices accept Medicaid as a form of payment in the 15 metro markets. Boston has the highest rate of Medicaid acceptance tracked in the survey at 73%, while Dallas has the lowest at 23%. The overall average rate of Medicaid acceptance for all five specialties in all 15 markets is 45.7%, the survey indicates.
