Patient satisfaction and physician productivity in shared medical appointments for vitiligo

Abstract

Background: The shared medical appointment (SMA) allows patients with a similar diagnosis to be simultaneously cared for and educated by 1 provider, which has had success in dermatology and other fields of specialty. The SMA provides a potential solution to improve patient access to dermatologists.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to implement the SMA for patients with vitiligo and compare it to traditional appointments with regard to patient satisfaction, time to appointment, number of new patients seen per month, and generated revenue.

Methods: A vitiligo SMA was implemented, and a 12-question survey was used to assess satisfaction in both SMA and traditional appointment settings. Satisfaction, revenue, and appointment logistic data for SMAs were compared with those for traditional appointments for new patients.

Results: Patients were highly satisfied with both SMAs and traditional appointments (P > .05). Time to appointment was faster for the SMA, and significantly more new patients were seen monthly with the SMA (P = .009).

Limitations: Limitations include small sample size, inability to correlate responder characteristics with survey responses, potential response bias, and selection bias due to absence of randomization.

Conclusion: SMAs were successful in a vitiligo clinic for both patient and provider. The SMA is a solution to improve access to dermatologists without compromising patient benefit, experience, or satisfaction.

Keywords: access to care; patient education; patient satisfaction; shared medical appointments; vitiligo.