Patient Appointment Wait Times are Too Long

How do eConsults combat appointment wait times?

When your Patients Request an Appointment with a Specialist, How Long do They Wait to be Seen?

Appointment wait times are getting longer. And, in-network referrals to specialists are more challenging than ever. AristaMD can help. Our eConsult solution can replace more than 70% of specialty care visits when the patient doesn’t require emergency care or procedures.

Check out recent wait times in cities across the state:

  • Cardiology: Wichita Falls patients will wait an average of 44 days to see a Cardiologist.
  • Dermatology: Do you need to refer a patient in Dallas or San Antonio? They will wait an average of 56 days to see a Dermatologist
  • Endocrinology: Patients that need an appointment will wait about 75 days for specialist advice in Fort Worth and 68 days in Austin.
  • Hematology: If your patients require advice from a Hematologist, they’ll wait approximately 45 days in Houston.
  • Neurology: Patients in Houston wait an average of 72 days.
  • Rheumatology: Across the state of Texas, patients wait about 45 days for a Rheumatology appointment.
  • Gastroenterology: Patients are waiting 48 days on average for an appointment with a Gastroenterologist.
Patient appointment wait times are too long in Texas.

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Reduce Appointment Wait Times and Improve Patient Care

Long appointment wait times for healthcare decrease specialist access

Long Wait Times for Healthcare Decrease Specialist Access

What is Delaying Specialty Care for Patients?

In order to understand the different reasons that patients struggle to access care, it is essential to take a look at what contributing to the issue. There are many reasons that patients do not access specialty care. Social determinants of health (SDOH) like the travel distance required to access specialty care in rural areas, cost, disability, and many more. However, the issue that impacts patients nationwide is the long wait times for healthcare that limit appointments with specialists.

Patients are frequently told that specialists aren’t able to see them for several weeks or even months from the time that the patient receives a referral and attempts to make an appointment. This creates a backlog of patients who often don’t get seen by a specialist because the patient seeks care in another location, like the ED, or decides that the appointment isn’t necessary. So much time between the date the appointment is scheduled and the date of the appointment leads to forgotten and missed appointments and scheduling conflicts.