Spine Center Access

Access to Appointments

What are we measuring?

For new patients, the number of days to the "third next available" appointment. Our goal is to offer all new patients an appointment within two weeks. Appointments are available sooner for patients with urgent needs.

Why is this important?

Patients referred to a BIDMC specialist by a primary care doctor should have quick and easy access to an appointment day and time that they want for their spine-related problem.

What is our most recent performance and trend?

What are we doing to improve our performance?

We continue efforts to recruit a new spine surgeon. Currently we have (3) neuro surgeon spine surgeons and (2) orthopedic spine surgeons. We work diligently to provide sooner appointments for patients with urgent needs. Access time to a non-surgical provider decreased slightly from the prior quarter. Typically, 80% of new patients at the Spine Center present with an issue that will not need surgical treatment. Demand for non surgical providers is higher than patients needing to be evaluated by a surgical provider. We have planned the increase in using Nurse Practitioners in the Boston spine clinic to support more timely access. The Nurse Practitioner will be paired with the non-operative pain spine specialist.

Last Updated: April 2018