'Wait Times for Physician Appointments Surged in Recent Years'

 The average wait time for a physician appointment has dramatically increased in recent years, according to a new survey

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Across six medical specialties in 15 large U.S. metropolitan areas, the average wait time for an appointment was 31 days, up 19% since the last survey in 2022 and up 48% since the first survey in 2004, according to AMN Healthcare's 2025 Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times and Medicare and Medicaid Acceptance Rates.

The average physician wait times by specialty this year were:

• Ob/Gyn: 41.8 days, up 33% since 2022 and up 79% since 2004
• Gastroenterology: 40 days (the specialty was newly added to the survey this year)
• Dermatology: 36.5 days, up 6% since 2022 and up 50% since 2004
• Cardiology: 32.7 days, up 23% from 2022 and up 74% since 2004
• Family Medicine: 23.5 days, up 14% since 2022 and up 16% since 2009 (the specialty was first added to the survey in 2009)
• Orthopedic Surgery: 12 days, down 29% since 2022 and down 29% since 2004

"Physicians are only going to get busier," Leah Grant, president of AMN Healthcare's Physician Solutions division, told MedPage Today.

The survey included data from nearly 1,400 physician offices in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Among them, Boston had the highest average physician appointment wait time across all six specialties (65 days). Atlanta had the shortest (12 days).

Wait times varied widely by specialty and metro area, AMN noted. For instance, they can range from just 1 day to 291 days for a dermatology appointment in Portland, 231 days for an ob/gyn appointment in Boston, 208 days for a gastroenterology appointment in Detroit, and 175 days for a cardiology appointment in Washington, D.C.

"It may be inferred that if areas with a relatively high number of physicians per population are experiencing extended physician appointment wait times, areas with lower per capita concentrations of physicians may be experiencing even longer appointment wait times," the report said.

Grant pointed to seven key factors driving physician supply and demand: population growth, population aging, physician aging, pervasive ill-health, limited physician training capacity, physician burnout, and physician maldistribution, also noted in AMN's report.

The report also noted that physician practice consolidation has had an impact on reported wait times.

"When an individual contacts these large groups to schedule a new patient appointment at the first date available, they typically are assigned to the physician who has the most open schedule," the report stated. "The survey therefore is likely to indicate appointment wait times for the most open physician among many in a particular medical group. A patient of a physician with a more established patient base, and a busier schedule, may experience longer appointment wait times than are indicated in the survey."

Physician access can also be impacted by insurance, so Medicare and Medicaid acceptance rates were examined.

Just slightly more than half (53%) of physician offices surveyed accepted Medicaid as a form of payment. Detroit had the highest rate of Medicaid acceptance (85%) and New York had the lowest (28%).

Meanwhile, 82% of physician offices accepted Medicare as a form of payment. Boston had the highest rate of Medicare acceptance at 94%, while Atlanta had the lowest at 68%.

"The number of physicians in a given area can affect the ease or difficulty patients may encounter when scheduling physician appointments," the report stated. However, "[a]n additional barrier may be the type of insurance physicians accept. If a physician does not accept a patient's form of insurance, the patient will have to find a physician who does, or seek care at a community health center or hospital emergency department, or forego care altogether."

Grant said that long wait times have a "domino effect," as health issues that can be caught early on can become more difficult to address, and patients can become discouraged and avoid seeking care.

To address increasing wait times going forward, there is a need to train more physicians, Grant said. Proactively, physician practices can leverage physician assistants and nurse practitioners to alleviate some of the pressure and reduce burnout.

Some states are making it easieropens in a new tab or window for internationally trained physicians to practice, she noted. Patients and society at large also have a role to play in taking control of their own health, including through lifestyle choices.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/115792