Table 1.

Perspectives of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Concerning Priorities for Their MS Care.^a

Health-Care Priority	Mean Rating	SD	Percent Rating Topic as a Top Priority
1. The affordability of MS health care.	3.20	0.92	45.9%
2. Non-MS health-care providers need more education about MS and how it can interact with other conditions.	2.92	0.85	31.9%
3. Access to an MS center or specialized MS clinic with MS health-care professionals together in one place.	2.90	0.98	25.9%
4. Having a single health-care provider who coordinates my MS health care.	2.78	0.97	25.4%
5. A resource for helping patients identify good, reliable, and accurate MS information on the Internet.	2.74	0.93	23.6%
6. Health insurance covering more visits for occupational and physical therapy, and speech/language therapies	2.68	1.00	22.8%
7. My MS doctor should communicate better with my other health-care providers.	2.64	0.94	21.2%
8. Naturopathic and homeopathic doctors and diet supplements should be covered by health insurance.	2.63	1.03	17.9%
9. Doctors should pay more attention to the health of the patient’s spouse/partner and caregivers.	2.26	0.93	15.0%
10. Transportation for health care.	2.26	1.06	9.9%
11. Better access to MS-care on weekends and after hours.	2.23	0.93	9.7%
12. More options for communicating electronically with health-care providers (e-mail, video, telehealth).	2.22	0.95	8.5%

Abbreviations: MS, multiple sclerosis; SD, standard deviation.

^a Mean ratings based on a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (not a priority) to 4 (top priority).