Patient Access: Improving Wait Times in a Specialty Clinic

Area of Science:

• Vascular Surgery
• Healthcare Management
• Patient Access

Background:

• Academic vascular surgery clinics often experience significant patient appointment delays.
• Initial wait times from referral to appointment were estimated at 3-4 weeks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reduce patient wait times in a vascular surgery clinic.
• To schedule 50% of new patients within 7 days of referral.
• To improve patient satisfaction and clinic efficiency.

Main Methods:

• A 6-month pilot project was conducted from January 2014 to June 2014.
• Interventions included backlog reduction, new scheduling guidelines, and leveraging nurse practitioners.
• Collaboration involved clinic managers, medical directors, staff, and clerical teams.

Main Results:

• The clinic successfully scheduled 50% of new patients within 7 days of referral.
• Positive trends in patient satisfaction, as surveyed by Press Ganey, were observed.
• Performance improvements were sustained for six consecutive months post-implementation.

Conclusions:

• Implementing targeted interventions can significantly decrease wait times for vascular surgery appointments.
• Utilizing advanced practice providers and optimizing scheduling are effective strategies for enhancing clinic efficiency.
• Sustained positive outcomes in patient access and satisfaction were achieved through collaborative efforts.