Wait times for neurology visits longer for patients with MS, epilepsy, Parkinson’s
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Key takeaways:
- Data show that 17.8% of patients with neurological conditions endured waits of 90 days or more.
- White patients waited 2.1 days longer than Black patients.
The average wait time between a referral and neurologist visit was more than a month among older adults, with longer wait times for those with serious neurodegenerative conditions like MS, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, new research shows.
“In neurologic care, it is essential to understand the factors associated with delays in accessing neurologists such as patient demographics and neurologist availability,” Brian C. Callaghan, MD, MS, FAAN, lead study author, chair of the American Academy of Neurology’s Health Services Research Subcommittee and professor of neurology at University of Michigan Medicine, and colleagues wrote.
Callaghan and colleagues conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of adults aged 65 years and older in the 2018-2019 Medicare database who had a new patient visit to a neurologist. They identified 163,313 beneficiaries (average age, 73.8 years; 58.2% women) who were referred by 84,975 physicians to 10,261 neurologists in the United States.
The primary outcome was the number of days between a patient’s last visit with a referring physician and their initial visit with a neurologist. The secondary outcome was the number of days from the index diagnosis visit to the index neurologist visit for those with prior visits for the same neurologic diagnosis at the index neurologist consultation.
According to the results, the median wait time between the referral and initial neurologist visit was 34 days, with 53.6% of patients experiencing wait times of more than 30 days and 17.8% waiting 90 days or more.
Patients with MS, Parkinson’s disease or other degenerative nervous system conditions experienced the longest wait times (median of 53.5, 41 and 39 days, respectively).
Compared with patients with back pain, the researchers found that patients with epilepsy waited 10.3 days longer, those with MS waited 29.4 days longer, and those with PD waited 9.4 days longer, despite their need for specialized care.
Data further showed that white patients experienced waits 2.1 days longer (95% CI 0.9–3.4) than Black patients, although no significant difference was found in wait times between female and male patients.
Compared with patients aged 65 to 69 years, wait times were shorter for those aged 70 to 74 years (1.1 days; 95% CI 2.13 to 0.09), those aged 75 to 79 years (3.1 days; 95% CI 4.1 to 2), and those aged 80 years and older (4.4 days; 95% CI 5.4 to 3.39). In comparison, patients aged younger than 65 years had a longer wait time (4.07 days; 95% CI 2.79–5.35).
The researchers also reported that, when patients visited a neurologist outside of their residential or referring physician's hospital referral region, wait times were extended by an average of 11 days.
“In general, early referral to specialists has been shown to improve outcomes and increase patient satisfaction,” study co-author Chun Chieh Lin, PhD, MBA, associate research professor in the division of health services research at The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, said in a related release. “Our findings underscore the need to develop new strategies to help people with neurological conditions see neurologists faster.”
Reference:
What is the average wait time to see a neurologist? https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/5224. Published Jan. 8, 2025. Accessed Jan. 9, 2025.