Enhanced Scheduling Support to Improve Continuity of Care in a Resident Training Clinic

Clinical continuity is recognized as a driver of satisfaction for patients and physicians. Greater continuity may positively affect trainee decisions to enter primary care. Maintaining clinical continuity remains a challenge in residency clinics.

We determined whether enhanced scheduling support was associated with improvement in internal medicine resident continuity with patients.

This study was conducted from June 2017 to December 2018. In the intervention clinic, a single scheduling staff member (ratio of 10 residents to 1 scheduler) was colocated within the clinical space, allowing the scheduler to participate in clinical discussions and direct communication with physicians regarding future appointments. In the comparison clinic, scheduling staff (19:1 ratio) were located at a remote front desk area and relied on patient reports or electronic health record orders to identify appointment needs and arrange follow-up appointments. The main outcome of the intervention was resident continuity, calculated using the continuity for physician formula.

During the study period, mean resident continuity was 23% (range 13%-37%) in the comparison clinic (57 residents) and 54% (range 38%-66%) in the intervention clinic (10 residents). Resident continuity was significantly higher in the intervention clinic compared with the traditional control clinic for every quarter measured (P < .001 for all comparisons).

Enhancing scheduling support through colocation and a lower resident to scheduler ratios was associated with significantly higher rates of resident continuity compared with a traditional front desk model, with results sustained over 18 months.