Implementation of Advanced Access in a Family Medicine Residency Practice

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Primary Care Medicine
• Clinical Operations

Background:

• Traditional and carve-out scheduling models are common in healthcare.
• The advanced access model offers an alternative approach to patient scheduling.
• Optimizing appointment scheduling is crucial for efficient healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implementation of the advanced access model in a clinical setting.
• To evaluate the impact of advanced access on appointment availability and physician continuity.
• To assess changes in patient satisfaction following advanced access implementation.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of the advanced access scheduling model.
• Monitoring of the third next available appointment metric.
• Assessment of individual primary care physician continuity.
• Measurement of patient satisfaction levels.

Main Results:

• The advanced access model successfully decreased the third next available appointment to under seven days for numerous providers.
• Physician-patient continuity improved for 40% of primary care physicians.
• No significant increase in patient satisfaction was observed post-implementation.

Conclusions:

• The advanced access model is an effective strategy for improving appointment accessibility and physician continuity in primary care.
• While patient satisfaction did not increase, the operational benefits of advanced access are substantial.
• Findings align with previous research on the effects of advanced access scheduling.