Reduce wait times, increase women’s health provider satisfaction, and increase patient satisfaction for pregnant patients experiencing headaches.

Headaches occurring during pregnancy require evaluation both to rule out secondary causes and provide adequate, safe treatment when indicated. Headache disorders are common and patient demand outpaces the availability of specialty headache providers.

The nurse practitioner is trained in specifics for headache care during pregnancy. New patient slots were held on the headache NP's schedule on days when the headache neurologist was also available. Disseminated pregnancy clinic information to women’s health providers. Surveys were sent to the women’s health providers to assess interested and need for this program. Pregnancy clinic referrals were sent directly to the nurse practitioner. Patient satisfaction was measured using pre- and post- surveys. Women’s health provider satisfaction and interested was measured using a pre-survey. Provider post-survey is planned for December, 2023.

To date, 74 pregnant patients have been referred and 38 evaluated. Most common reason for a patient no evaluation was lack of patient response or no-show (N = 28). Most common diagnosis was migraine without aura (N = 25). Average wait time was reduced from 120 to 22 days. Improvement in patient-reported satisfaction was seen across all measured domains: understanding of options for migraine during pregnancy, having a plan in place for migraine during pregnancy, and knowing who to reach out to with questions regarding migraine during pregnancy. On pre-survey, 35% of women’s health providers reported they felt confident managing migraine during pregnancy and 39% were satisfied with the wait time. Provider post-surveys are planned for December 2023.