Prenatal Care Waiting Time Reduced in Norristown

In August 2011, Maternity Care Coalition conducted a research study to assess prenatal care capacity in Norristown.  We are happy to report that the wait time for a prenatal care appointment is now 4.6 weeks, down from 11.5 weeks in August 2010. 

Site and practitioner listings were obtained from the PA Enrollment Services website.  We searched for available providers in the Obstetrics-Gynecology specialty category under all available plans using the 19401 zip code as our search parameter. 

The PA Enrollment Services website listed 27 providers (sites and practitioners) in Norristown.  Of these 27 listings, 3 unique phone numbers were obtained belonging to 3 sites: The Family OBGYN Center of Montgomery, Norristown OBGYN Associates, and Norristown Regional Health Center OB/GYN.  These sites were called to confirm the practitioners available offering prenatal care, the date of the first available appointment, the number of new prenatal care patients accepted weekly, and the number of hours per week available for prenatal care appointments.  Information regarding MA plans accepted and hospital affiliation was also collected.

What We Found

Only 1 site offering prenatal care

Upon calling the 3 sites it was found that the Family OBGYN Center of Montgomery Hospital was the only site offering prenatal care.  Norristown OBGYN Associates (which has now joined Mercy Women’s Health Care) and Norristown Regional Health Center OB/GYN only see GYN patients. 

Only 3 out of 5 MCO plans accepted at the one site

The Family OBGYN Center is affiliated with Montgomery Hospital and accepts Keystone Mercy, Health Partners, and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan.  They are still not accepting the two new health plans: Aetna Better Health and Coventry Cares.

7 practitioners offering prenatal care at the one site

There were 12 listings under the phone number for the Family OBGYN Center of Montgomery (excluding the site itself).  6 were repeat listings, and 3 listings were names of practitioners that have left the practice.  Our call also revealed 4 additional practitioners offering prenatal care at this site, not listed on the PA Enrollment Services website.  Of these 4, 2 were OB/GYNs, 1 was a physician’s assistant, and 1 was a nurse midwife. 

7 practitioners providing a Full Time Equivalent of 2.3 practitioners

We asked for every available practitioner’s schedule (hours available weekly for prenatal care appointments).  The 7 practitioners offer a total of 92 hours weekly for prenatal care visits.  This amounts to a full time equivalent (measured as a 40 hour work week) of 2.3 practitioners available at the Family OBGYN Center of Montgomery.

Only 12 appointments available weekly for new prenatal care patients 

Of the 184 appointments (30 minutes in duration) available each week for prenatal care visits, only 12 of these appointments are available for new prenatal care patients. 

There is a 4.6 week wait for a prenatal care appointment

At the Family OBGYN Center, the next available appointment as of August 8, 2011 was September 9, 2011.  This means that women in Norristown will wait an average of 4.6 weeks for a prenatal care visit.

Incorrect Listings

Of the 27 listings, 10 were repeat listings.  Of the 17 unique listings, only 4 were confirmed to be practitioners offering prenatal care.  Of the remaining 13 unique listings, 5 were practitioners that do not provide prenatal care, 6 were practitioners that are no longer available, and 3 were names of sites.  This information is represented in the pie chart below.