Hourly-block and standard patient scheduling systems at two private hospitals in Alexandria

Abstract

Introduction:Patient appointment systems are of great importance for efficiently managing outpatient clinics as well as patient satisfaction as an indirect indicator for quality care rendered.Purpose:To describe the hourly block and standard sequential scheduling appointment systems at two different hospitals, as well as to assess the patients’ opinions regarding their waiting time in both systems.Study settings:The study was conducted at ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) clinics in two of the biggest and reputable private hospitals in Alexandria. Hospital A follows the standard appointment system and Hospital B follows the hourly block appointment system.Study design:A cross-sectional descriptive study was designed to compare the two settings.Results:For new cases, the mean time was longer for the standard system with regards to access time (12.2 ± 5.9) days, while the mean time was longer in the hourly block system with regards to punctuality, waiting time, and consultation time (28.5 ± 12.3, 27.5 ± 17.1, and 14.5 ± 9.0 minutes, respectively). For return cases, the mean time was longer for the standard system with regards to access and punctuality times (14.5 ± 6.1 days and 48.9 ± 27.0 minutes, respectively), while the highest mean times in the hourly block system were for waiting and consultation (19.4 ± 6.9 and 12.3 ± 3.9 minutes, respectively). Most of the patients in both systems preferred the standard appointment system to the hourly block system (73.3% for Hospital A and 55.0% for Hospital B).Conclusion:Every health care organization should know how to choose the most appropriate method of appointment system and how best to organize it to meet the needs of its patients. Patient scheduling is an important tool for efficient outpatient department management as well as rationally operating outpatient resources and critical areas like physician productivity, patient satisfaction, and practice profits.

An Integrated Lean Supply Chain Framework for U.S. Hospitals

“…Even today, not all hospital systems interact with each other to communicate the most up-to-date information (Whitney, 2015). Also, although many hospitals in the U.S. already use emergency and operating room scheduling software, adoption is not widespread, particularly in small-cities and rural areas (Bodenheimer and Pham, 2010;Zaghloul and El Enein, 2010).…”

Medical student perspective: reducing patient waiting times in the UK National Health Service

“…We read with great interest the article by Zaghloul and El Enein and agree with the conclusions made in particular regarding overbooking of outpatient services due to a mismatching of resources and the need for efficient outpatient scheduling. 1 We believe these points to be relevant to the current status of the National Health Service (NHS), which is facing an ever growing demand for its services, leading to increasing waiting times as a result. 2 Across NHS England, 838,600 patients were waiting for a key diagnostic test at the end of November 2015, a 5.6% increase from November 2014.…”

“…As highlighted by Zaghloul and El Enein, follow-up appointments contribute significantly to overall outpatient appointments. 1 There are 37 million yearly follow-up appointments in the NHS, many of which are deemed clinically unnecessary. Furthermore, there are currently 6 million missed appointments each year where patients have failed to notify the hospital in advance.…”

Estimación del tiempo de consulta ambulatoria en clínica médica

“…Otro factor a tener en cuenta es la forma de remuneración o el tipo de contrato del médico con las instituciones. Por un lado están los contratos per cápita, donde al médico se le paga por cada paciente atendido; en este caso la duración de las consultas puede verse afectada dado que cuantos más pacientes se atiendan más dinero recibirá el médico; esto implica el riesgo de una disminución en los tiempos de consulta como se evidencia en el estudio realizado en Canadá 10 . En los casos de médicos con remuneración fija, la duración de las consultas parece estar más controlada y menos manipulada por parte del profesional 18 .…”

“…Otro estudio revela que el promedio de duración de las consultas es de 6 min 9 . Una investigación en Alejandría, Egipto, mostró que los tiempos de consulta oscilan entre 14,5 ± 9 min para una consulta de primera vez y entre 12,3 ± 3,9 min en visitas posteriores 10 . En Turquía, un estudio patrocinado por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) reveló que el tiempo promedio de la consulta médica era de 11 min 11 .…”