Appointment Accessibility for Your Patients

Date: 09/25/25

Louisiana Healthcare Connections is dedicated to helping providers meet the needs of its members. Below are the appointment accessibility standards put forth by the Louisiana Department of Health. Providers are encouraged to review to be sure to their practice is familiar with the standards..

All Providers

TYPE OF UTILIZATION/INTERACTION	REQUIRED TIME FRAME
In-office waiting time for ascheduled appointment	*Not to exceed 45 minutes*. If a provider is delayed, patients shall be notified immediately. If the wait is anticipated to be more than 90 minutes, patient shall be offered a new appointment time.
Direct telephone access to qualified clinical staff	24/7
Emergency Care	24 hours, 7 days/week within 1 hour of request

Primary Care Providers

TYPE OF APPOINTMENT	SCHEDULING TIME FRAME
Non-urgent, routine preventative care	6 weeks
Non-urgent sick care (including walk-in patients)	Within 72 hours or sooner if medical condition(s) deteriorates into an urgent or emergency condition
Urgent non-emergency care (including walk-in patients)	24 hours, 7 days/week within one hour of request
After Hours, by Phone	Answer by live person or call-back from a designated medical practitioner within 30 minutes

OB/GYN Providers

TYPE OF APPOINTMENT	SCHEDULING TIME FRAME
OB 1st Trimester	14 Days
OB 2nd Trimester	7 Days
OB 3rd Trimester	3 Days
High risk pregnancy, any trimester	3 Days
Family planning	1 week

Specialty Care Providers

TYPE OF APPOINTMENT	SCHEDULING TIME FRAME
Specialist appointments	1 month

Behavioral Health Care Providers

TYPE OF APPOINTMENT	SCHEDULING TIME FRAME
Non-life-threatening emergencies prescribers/ non- prescribers	Within 1 hour
Urgent non-emergency behavioral health care Prescribers/non-prescribers	48 hours
Non-urgent initial routine behavioral health care	Appointments shall be arranged within 10 days of request
Psychiatric inpatient hospital (emergency involuntary)	4 hours
Psychiatric inpatient hospital (involuntary)	24 hours
Psychiatric inpatient hospital (voluntary)	24 hours
ASAM Level 3.3, 3.5 & 3.7	10 business days
Residential withdrawal management	24 hours when medically necessary
Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF)	20 calendar days
Follow-up routine care prescribers (i.e., psychiatrists)	Within 30 days
Follow-up routine care non-prescribers (i.e., psychologist or licensed social worker)	Within 20 days

Primary Care Provider After Hours

APPROPRIATE AFTER-HOURS CASE ACCESS:

The PCP’s office telephone is answered after-hours by an answering service that can contact the PCP or another designated medical practitioner. All calls answered by an answering service must be returned within 30 minutes;
The PCP’s office telephone is answered after normal business hours by a recording directing the member to call another number to reach the PCP or another provider designated by the PCP. Someone must be available to answer the designated provider’s telephone. Another recording is not acceptable; and
The PCP’s office telephone is transferred after office hours to another location where someone will answer the telephone and be able to contact the PCP or another designated medical practitioner, who can return the call within 30 minutes.

UNACCEPTABLE PCP AFTER HOURS COVERAGE:

The PCP’s office telephone is only answered during office hours;
The PCP’s office telephone is answered after-hours by a recording that tells patients to leave a message;
The PCP’s office telephone is answered after-hours by a recording that directs patients to go to an Emergency Room for any services needed and
Returning after-hours calls outside of 30 minutes.