11/26/2023 0 Comments Tad cooper gi![]() Informed consent was obtained from all patients before they completed the questionnaire. All patients referred to clinics with liver or motility diagnoses were asked to complete the questionnaire at the time of their first clinic appointment with the GI provider. We aimed to better understand what barriers delay or otherwise impair patients from being seen and treated by subspecialists.Īn institutional review board-approved questionnaire was used for the study. 12 The purpose of this study was to assess the differences in access to care between two GI subspecialties, hepatology and motility, in an academic medical center setting. 7–11 Little data exist on the emotional and financial strains caused by the complex GI diseases associated with patients in hepatology and motility subspecialty clinics. 6 Additionally, delays in hospital care have been shown to lead to increased hospital stays and worsened outcomes. 3–5 Most importantly, it has been shown that access to subspecialty care improved 5-year survival of hepatology patients. Access to subspecialty care for hepatology (liver) patients has received some limited attention in studies however, access to care is not well defined for either motility or hepatology patients. 1, 2 Chronic gastrointestinal disorders including gastroparesis (diagnosed by delayed emptying from the stomach) and cirrhosis often require complex, specialized care. Liver diseases and gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders are growing medical problems in the United States with an associated increased demand for treatment of these diseases. Further investigations of referral access for gastroenterology patients may yield additional insights into disease-specific barriers to accessing subspecialty care. Their wait time for appointments was also greater than hepatology patients. Motility patients were more likely to have been told they have nothing wrong with them, suffer setbacks financially, and suffer mood problems. While there are similarities, differences exist between these two subspecialties. A larger percentage of motility patients were told nothing was wrong with them (16.8%, p<0.01) and could not be helped (42.1%, p=0.000).Ĭonclusions: Access to care for subspecialty gastroenterology patients in a university center appears to be impacted by a number of variables. There were differences by subspecialty (107.6 days for motility vs. Results: Patients waited a mean 89.5 days to be seen by a subspecialist. Both groups were overweight (mean body mass index 28.4). Gender distribution was even for hepatology (51.2% female). Hepatology patients were older (49.7 years, p=0.008) motility patients predominantly female (76.8%, p<0.001). ![]() Methods: Two hundred thirteen clinic patients (mean age 46.5 years 66.5% female 85.6% Caucasians) completed a formatted questionnaire on access to care. We hypothesized that patients experience barriers to care in two common gastroenterology subspecialties, Hepatology and Motility, in a university medical center. Purpose: Referral access to subspecialty care for patients with gastrointestinal (GI) diseases is not well defined, but has significant importance to patients.
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