Affiliations: [a] Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA | [b] Multiple Sclerosis Center, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA | [c] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Texas A&M University System Health Sciences Center, College Station, TX, USA | [d] Department of Sociology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Dr. R.J. Buchanan, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Bowen Hall, Room 105, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. Tel.: +1 662 325 2711; Fax: +1 662 325 2716; E-mail: rjb161@ps.msstate.edu
Abstract: Do people with multiple sclerosis who receive the majority of their care from neurologists perceive access to and quality of their care differently than people receiving their care from medical internists, family/general practitioners, and other types of physicians? The objective of this study is to identify any patient-identified differences in MS-related care by the practice specialty of the principal care physician, as well as differences by practice specialty in satisfaction with access to physician services and differences in patient perceptions of quality. Data were collected by surveying 1,518 people with MS throughout the United States and grouped by practice specialty of principal care physician (neurologist, internal medicine, family/general practice, and other physicians). Significant differences were observed by practice specialty of the principal care physician in physician understanding of various aspects of MS, satisfaction with access to MS-focused care, and quality of MS-focused care, with neurologists associated with better patient perceptions. Patients consider MS-related care superior when it is delivered by neurologists compared to MS patients receiving care from medical internists, family/general practitioners, and other physicians.
Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, practice specialty, quality, access
