Managing service capacity in an ambulatory care clinic.
Capacity management seeks to improve organizational effectiveness by increasing operational efficiency and reducing patient congestion. A framework for capacity management, including demand-smoothing and supply-matching strategies, provides structure for a manager's approach to effective ambulatory care. A patient flow study of 108 patients at an outpatient medical oncology clinic identified several inefficient patient services. Rather than increase the clinical resource base, a balanced set of relevant, low-cost strategies was proposed to improve performance.
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003625:Data Collection; D004526:Efficiency; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006782:Hospitals, Special / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009516:New Mexico; D010934:Planning Techniques