Abstract
Appointment wait times are a neglected dimension of children’s access to psychiatry. We systematically examined how long an adolescent waits for a new patient appointment with a psychiatrist for routine medication management. From state directories, we identified 578 providers of adolescent psychiatric care in Ohio. Researchers posing as parents telephoned randomly selected offices, seeking care for a hypothetical 14-year-old patient under different scenarios. Overall, we measured 498 wait times at 140 unique offices. The median wait time was 50 days (interquartile range = 29–81 days). In adjusted models, adolescents with Medicaid waited longer than those with private insurance, especially during the spring (geometric mean = 50.9 vs. 41.9 days; p = 0.02). Wait times also varied markedly by region, with geometric means ranging from 22.4 to 75.1 days (p < 0.01). This study demonstrates that adolescents often experience lengthy wait times for routine care. This methodology represents a useful approach to real-time monitoring of psychiatric services.
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This study was made possible by the support of the Ohio Office of Medical Assistance’s MEDTAPP Program, the Ohio Department of Mental Health, and the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center. The opinions expressed here do not represent those of any State official or agency and are solely those of the authors.
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Steinman, K.J., Shoben, A.B., Dembe, A.E. et al. How Long Do Adolescents Wait for Psychiatry Appointments?. Community Ment Health J 51, 782–789 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9897-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9897-x