title: Patient flow improvement for an ophthalmic specialist outpatient clinic with aid of discrete event simulation and design of experiment.
abstract: Continuous improvement in process efficiency for specialist outpatient clinic (SOC) systems is increasingly being demanded due to the growth of the patient population in Singapore. In this paper, we propose a discrete event simulation (DES) model to represent the patient and information flow in an ophthalmic SOC system in the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC). Different improvement strategies to reduce the turnaround time for patients in the SOC were proposed and evaluated with the aid of the DES model and the Design of Experiment (DOE). Two strategies for better patient appointment scheduling and one strategy for dilation-free examination are estimated to have a significant impact on turnaround time for patients. One of the improvement strategies has been implemented in the actual SOC system in the SNEC with promising improvement reported.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Governance and Quality Management, Singapore Health Services Pte Ltd, Jalan Bukit Merah, 150168, Singapore, pianonion@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Dali
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Audrey Wan Mei
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Kon
authors.forename: Charity Sue Lea
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Wai
authors.forename: Woo Boon
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Ang
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009885:Ophthalmology; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012846:Singapore; D013997:Time Factors; D014850:Waiting Lists