{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T10:19:07Z","timestamp":1787653147064,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783555200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783555200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Health Services Research"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) Community Care Network generally includes physicians with higher Medicare Merit\u2010Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) quality scores than nonparticipants, yet veterans disproportionately receive care from participating physicians with lower scores. Whether physician quality or availability influences veterans' use of community care has not been comprehensively evaluated. Our objective was to assess whether VHA community care specialists with higher MIPS quality scores receive greater referral volume or have longer wait times.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Study Setting and Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We used multivariate regression models to assess the associations between physicians' MIPS quality scores, ranging from 0 to 100, and wait times or referral volumes. We also tested whether wait time moderated the association between physician quality and referral volume.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Data Sources and Analytic Sample<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We used administrative data to identify referrals to community\u2010based specialists during 2021\u20132022. Referrals were then merged with MIPS quality scores from the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services using national provider identifiers.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Principal Findings<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our sample included 83,911 specialty care referrals involving 43,736 specialists. The mean MIPS quality score was 81.9 (SD\u2009=\u200920.9), including 77.9% of physicians who scored \u2265\u200975, the threshold for a positive payment adjustment. The overall mean wait time was 21.8\u2009days (SD\u2009=\u200922.0), and the mean referral volume was 6.6 per year (SD\u2009=\u200910.5). In covariate\u2010adjusted regression models, MIPS scores were not associated with wait times (+0.12\u2009days per 10\u2010point increase, 95% CI: \u22120.02, 0.25) or referral volumes (\u22120.15 referrals per 10\u2010point increase, 95% CI: \u22120.37, 0.06). Wait time did not significantly moderate the relationship between MIPS score and referral volume.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Physician quality appears to play a limited role in shaping referral decisions or access patterns in VHA community care. Although higher\u2010scoring physicians sometimes have slightly longer wait times, these differences are small and do not translate into higher referral volumes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/1475-6773.70148","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T11:57:04Z","timestamp":1783598224000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Are the Best Worth the Wait? Physician Quality Scores and Access Delays"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"61","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7602-5234","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yi\u2010Jung","family":"Shen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Law, Policy and Management Boston University School of Public Health  Boston Massachusetts USA"},{"name":"Partnered Evidence\u2010Based Policy Resource Center, Boston Veterans Administration Healthcare System  Boston Massachusetts USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0776-4025","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samantha G.","family":"Auty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Law, Policy and Management Boston University School of Public Health  Boston Massachusetts USA"},{"name":"Partnered Evidence\u2010Based Policy Resource Center, Boston Veterans Administration Healthcare System  Boston Massachusetts USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8304-8602","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kevin N.","family":"Griffith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Policy Vanderbilt University Medical Center  Nashville Tennessee USA"},{"name":"VETeran's Wellbeing Through Innovation, Systems Science, and Experience in Learning Health Systems (VETWISE\u2010LHS), VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System  Nashville Tennessee 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