Socioeconomic Status Impacts Access to Orthopaedic Specialty Care

Financial, personal, and structural barriers affect access to all aspects of orthopaedic specialty care.

Disparities in access to care are present across all subspecialties of orthopaedic surgery in the United States.

Improving timely access to care in orthopaedic surgery is crucial for both health equity and optimizing patient outcomes.

Options for improving orthopaedic access include increasing Medicaid/Medicare payments to physicians, providing secondary resources to assist patients with limited finances, and reducing language barriers in both clinical care and patient education.