Published Approaches to Improving Timeliness of Care for People with Sickle Cell Disease in the United States: A Scoping Review

Abstract Background Although interventions have been implemented to reduce long hospital wait times in the United States, this issue persists, particularly among people with sickle cell disease (SCD), a condition that disproportionately affects non-Hispanic Black individuals. It remains unclear whether this persistence is due to a lack of variety of implemented interventions or limitations in the scope of existing programs. Therefore, this scoping review aims to examine published approaches and strategies related to improving the timeliness of care for people with SCD. Methods This scoping review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews and the Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework. The Embase, PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and CINAHL / EBSCO databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published from database inception to February 20, 2026. Included were articles published in English that mentioned approaches to improve long wait times among people with SCD in the United States. Findings Following screening, fifteen articles were identified. Strategies included education ( n = 2), wait-time guidelines/protocols ( n = 7), electronic systems ( n = 5), specialty sickle cell infusion centers ( n = 3), and staff communication ( n = 1). Among studies that evaluated interventions, effectiveness was the common outcome of interest, and some of the interventions were found to be ineffective. No approach explicitly employed behavioral or social science theories. None explicitly addressed racial bias or inequitable emergency department care experiences. Also, most were hospital-based and strategies reflected traditional approaches commonly used for hospital-centered programs. Interpretation Overall, additional and more robust strategies are needed to improve hospital wait times for people with SCD. This review identified gaps in knowledge that, if addressed, may help guide continued innovation in the design of interventions to improve long wait times for people with SCD.