Attitudes Towards Pooled Surgical Waitlists and Group Referral in Urogynecology: Higher Contemporary Acceptance Among Patients

Abstract

Objectives

Consolidation of individual surgeon waitlists into a collective pool has been implemented in many public systems to optimize resource use and ensure equitable access to surgical care. Acceptance of such strategies was noted to be limited in urogynecology. We aimed to evaluate patient acceptance of pooled surgical waitlists in a contemporary population and compare results to a historical pre-COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

This cross-sectional study surveyed patients awaiting urogynecologic surgery after signing consent from 2022 to 2023. All responses were collected anonymously. Patient attitudes toward the potential for a pooled surgical waitlist were explored. We compared survey results to data from a historical cohort of published data from 2019 (N = 176) to evaluate whether there was a change in attitudes.

Results

Of the 101 patients awaiting surgery who completed the survey, 42% (42/101) reported that they would like to be offered the option of having surgery done by the next available skilled surgeon, rather than wait for their own surgeon, and this did not differ by patient symptom severity (P = 0.52). Overall, 53% (54/101) of patients reported feeling comfortable being referred to the first available urogynecologist for both consultation and follow-up visit. More respondents agreed with the pooled surgical waitlist option than in the historical cohort (42% vs. 19%, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

There appears to be greater acceptance of pooled surgical waitlists in a contemporary analysis, potentially supporting such a strategy in future urogynecology populations.