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New patients in Boston wait up to 37 days to see a specialist for non-urgent matters while similar patients in Washington, DC, can see one within two weeks, according to new research.

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, June 10, 2004

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New patients in Boston wait up to 37 days to see a specialist for non-urgent matters while similar patients in Washington, DC, can see one within two weeks, according to new research.

Patients also find it difficult to reach a live person. Many physicians' offices have answering machines that direct callers seeking appointments to leave messages. In some cases, researchers who posed as new patients seeking an appointment for nonurgent problems didn't receive a return call, even after they left two or more messages.

Surveyors for the study randomly called doctors who practice privately or are who are affiliated with hospitals in the city and surrounding suburbs. They posed as new patients and requested appointments for such nonurgent problems as heart checkups, routine screening for skin cancer, knee pain, or a routine gynecological exam.

The Texas-based consulting firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates surveyed 1,062 physician specialists' offices in 15 major cities. Overall, Boston patients wait longest for appointments with specialists. New patients in that city wait an average of 37 days to see a cardiologist, 45 days to see an obstetrician-gynecologist, 50 days to see a dermatologist, and 24 days to see an orthopedic surgeon, according to an account of the study published in the Boston Globe.

Because the numbers are averaged, some cardiologists in Boston had four-month waits while others were able to schedule patients in as soon as seven days.

The survey did not address whether the delays harm patients, or why certain cities are worse than others.

Interestingly, Massachusetts is second only to Washington, DC, in terms of the number of doctors per 100,000 residents. Massachusetts has 356 specialists and primary care physicians who treat patients 20 hours or more a week for every 100,000 residents. That compares to 234 doctors per 100,000 people nationally in 2002, according to the most recent data from the American Medical Association.

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