April 1, 2024
Annual access and availability survey
As your partner in patient care, each year, Cigna Healthcare conducts an annual Access and Availability Standards Survey to assess patient access to needed medical services. The survey takes a snapshot across our network of participating providers to ensure that your patients:
How the survey works
Cigna Healthcare survey specialists randomly select and call Cigna Healthcare Medicare Advantage network-participating primary care providers, high-volume and high-impact specialists, and behavioral prescribers and nonprescribers.
Appointment availability standard: Primary care
| Primary care appointments | Access standard |
|---|---|
| Urgent/emergency | Immediately |
| Nonurgent/nonemergency | Within one week |
| Routine and preventive | Within 30 days |
| On-call response (after hours) | One hour or less in an emergency |
| Office wait time | 30 minutes or less |
Appointment availability standard: Specialist
| Appointment type | Access standard |
|---|---|
| Urgent/emergency | Immediately |
| Nonurgent/nonemergency | Within one week |
| Elective | Within 30 days |
| High index of suspicion malignancy | Less than seven days |
| Waiting time in office | 30 minutes or less |
After-hours access standard: Primary care and specialist
| Emergency calls | Return call within 60 minutes of receiving it |
| Nonemergency calls | Return call within 24 hours |
| After-hours calls (when office is closed) | – Reliable 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week answering service with a beeper or paging system, and on-call coverage arranged with another participating provider (same specialty preferred) or – Provider answering machine directs patients to the nearest emergency room in the case a provider, office staff, or live party is not available |
For more information
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