Evaluating and Improving an Outpatient Clinic Scheduling Template Using Secondary Electronic Health Record Data

Improving the efficiency of outpatient clinics is challenging in the face of increased patient loads, decreased reimbursements and potential negative productivity impacts of using electronic health records (EHR). We modeled outpatient ophthalmology clinic workflow using discrete event simulation for testing new scheduling templates that decrease patient wait time and improve clinic efficiency. Despite challenges in implementing the new scheduling templates in one outpatient clinic, the new templates improved patient wait time and clinic session length when they were followed. Analyzing EHR data about these schedules and their adherence to the template provides insight into new policies that can better balance the competing priorities of filling the schedules, meeting patient demand and minimizing wait time.