Telephone calls and appointment requests. Predictability in an unpredictable world.
HMO member-initiated requests for service, including telephone calls and appointments, were studied. Telephone calls to medical offices were found to be directly proportional by a constant factor to the number of members using the facility. The number of member requests for appointments for medical problems and routine physical examinations was also predictable. A method of planning and effectively providing outpatient office appointments is proposed.
Smoller
M
M
Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland, CA 94612.
D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D002140:California; D003625:Data Collection; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D013689:Telephone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States