| AMN Healthcare/Merritt Hawkins, a HASD&IC associate member, has released its 2022 Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times and Medicare and Medicaid Acceptance Rates. The survey tracks average new patient appointment wait times in five specialties in 15 major metropolitan areas (including San Diego), as well as the percentage of physicians in the five specialties who accept Medicare and Medicaid as forms of payment. It found that the average wait time for a cardiology appointment in San Diego is 17 days; the average for orthopedic surgery is 35 days; the average for dermatology is 22 days; and the average for obstetrics/gynecology is 38 days. Nationwide, the overall average wait time now is 26 days, up 8% since 2017, the last time Merritt Hawkins conducted the survey; and up 24% since 2004, the first year of the survey. Merritt Hawkins has also released an infographic that shows cities with the longest and shortest average physician appointment wait times. |
