Selling open access health care delivery to patients and administrators: what's the hook?

A new concept in health care delivery involves the use of Open Access Scheduling for patients. In an attempt to manage spiraling medical costs and patient care demands many medical practices and managed care organizations are looking for alternative delivery models for health care. Open Access Scheduling has been garnering many advocates and converts from past traditional medical service delivery models. Unfortunately, due to its limited penetration into the medical community, little of Open Access' essential characteristics are generally understood. This paper looks at Open Access from the perspectives of: patients, medical administrators, office staff and providers. We discuss the tenets of Open Access, the benefits from its use, its challenges, and the steps necessary to initiate this type of service delivery.