Neurology Access Clinic
A Model to Improve Access to Neurologic Care in an Academic Medical Center
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Background and Objectives Delays in access to neurologic care are a major problem. In this pilot program, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel staffing model for neurology outpatient clinic within an academic neurology center to increase access to neurologic care, while incorporating such a model into a growing academic neurology department.
Methods We created a new model for provision of access to neurologic care that could be introduced in an academic neurologic department, the access clinic. One attending was assigned to staff the access clinic for 1 week at a time. This was introduced as rotation equal to conventional on-service inpatient rotations. Descriptive analyses were performed to characterize the access clinic's performance characteristics. Comparisons were made to the previously established traditional faculty clinic model.
Results A total of 5,917 access clinic visits were compared with 6,000 traditional clinic visits. Lead time dropped from 142 to 18 days for new patients and from 64 to 0 days for return visits. Although total readmission rates were similar during both clinic periods, readmission through the emergency department was less for access clinic patients. The access clinic resulted in significant improvement in patient satisfaction ratings. The access clinic model was financially profitable.
Discussion Our findings suggest that introducing an access clinic as service rotation for neurology faculty is both effective in offering enhanced access for patients to neurologic care and for patient satisfaction. Future studies may test this model in other centers and should address the effect on provider satisfaction.
Footnotes
Funding information and disclosures are provided at the end of the article. Full disclosure form information provided by the authors is available with the full text of this article at Neurology.org/cp.
Submitted and externally peer reviewed. The handling editor was Elaine Jones, MD, FAAN.
- Received September 1, 2021.
- Accepted January 26, 2022.
- © 2022 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
For assistance, please contact:
AAN Members (800) 879-1960 or (612) 928-6000 (International)
Non-AAN Member subscribers (800) 638-3030 or (301) 223-2300 option 3, select 1 (international)
Sign Up
Information on how to subscribe to Neurology and Neurology: Clinical Practice can be found here
Purchase
Individual access to articles is available through the Add to Cart option on the article page. Access for 1 day (from the computer you are currently using) is US$ 39.00. Pay-per-view content is for the use of the payee only, and content may not be further distributed by print or electronic means. The payee may view, download, and/or print the article for his/her personal, scholarly, research, and educational use. Distributing copies (electronic or otherwise) of the article is not allowed.
The Nerve!: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Hastening the Diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Dr. Brian Callaghan and Dr. Kellen Quigg
► Watch
Related Articles
- No related articles found.