Accessibility and Barriers to Oncology Appointments at 40 National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers: Results of a Mystery Shopper Project [ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS]

Conclusion: Our study highlights the difficulty of accessing information about appointment availability. Although not statistically significant, inquiries regarding first available appointments for Medicaid patients resulted in longer estimated or actual wait times than those for patients with private insurance, and Medicaid shoppers noted qualitative differences. Although our study was limited by small sample size and imperfect analytic methods, our results suggest the need for more efficient and accessible care for patients at our nation’s top cancer centers.
Source: Journal of Oncology Practice - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Communication, Staff and staffing, Training, Quality, Caregiver, Family member, General public, Access to care, Advocacy, Media, Patient, Training, Access to care, Advocacy, Diagnosis & Staging, Practice Administration ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS Source Type: research