Can the doctor still see me? What happens when patients arrive late?
Demands to optimize productivity and quality require a patient scheduling system that can balance patient demand and clinic resources. The consequences of unscheduled and late patient arrivals on operational efficiencies have been documented. Less understood is the impact of unscheduled and late arrivals on the quality of service each receives. This article examines the impact of unscheduled and late patient arrivals on operational, clinical and administrative outcomes that affect quality of care of children potentially eligible for immunizations. An unexpected finding was the generally better and faster levels of service for late arrivals.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Community Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92092-0927, USA. jfontanesi@ucsd.edu
John
J
Fontanesi
Michelle
M
De Guire
Kathy
K
Holcomb
David
D
Kopald
Mark H
MH
Sawyer
D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000592:standards*; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013995:Time