thopaedic care based on insurance type and to identify factors influencing these wait times. Methods: Orthopaedic physicians were identified using the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons patient-facing database in the fields of Adult Reconstruction, Foot and Ankle, Hand, Sports Medicine, Spine, Pediatric, and General Orthopaedic surgery. Mystery callers, posing as patients with either Medicaid or Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) insurance, contacted physicians to request the next available new patient appointment. The business days until the first available new patient appointment were recorded and analyzed using a linear mixed Poisson model. Results: A total of 1,002 phone calls were made to 501 unique physicians in 47 states. Among the 349 physicians meeting inclusion criteria, 37% (n = 130) did not accept Medicaid. Medicaid patients experienced a 10% longer wait for a new patient appointment compared with patients with BCBS (incidence rate ratio: 1.10; CI: 1.05 to 1.15; P < 0.01)