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Comparison of Patients' Admissions to the Cardiology Outpatient Clinics Between the Appointment System and the Queue
1Department of Cardiology, University of Health Sciences, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, T��rkiye.
Insights
The appointment system improved cardiology clinic access, with appointment users showing fewer cardiac diagnoses and emergency visits compared to the queue system. Prioritizing patients by clinical factors can optimize scheduling.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Healthcare Management
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Traditional queue systems for outpatient admissions can lead to inefficiencies and admission gaps.
- Developing an appointment system aims to streamline patient access and improve the efficiency of cardiology clinics.
- Understanding patient characteristics within different admission systems is crucial for optimizing healthcare delivery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the characteristics of patients admitted through an appointment system versus a traditional queue system in a cardiology outpatient clinic.
- To identify and eliminate potential admission gaps by analyzing patient demographics, clinical presentations, and diagnostic outcomes.
- To evaluate the impact of appointment scheduling on patient flow and diagnostic accuracy.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 2135 cardiology outpatients, divided into appointment (group 1) and queue (group 2) systems.
- Analysis of demographic, clinical, and presentational variables for both groups, including non-cardiac diagnosed patients.
- Comparison of patient characteristics based on appointment-to-visit time and diagnostic outcomes.
Main Results:
- Appointment users (group 1) were more likely to be female and within the 18-64 age range, with a higher rate of first-time admissions.
- The queue system (group 2) had a higher proportion of patients with existing follow-ups, disabilities, and cardiac-related complaints.
- Patients using the appointment system had a significantly lower rate of cardiac diagnoses (51.5%) compared to the queue system (76.3%), and fewer emergency department admissions.
Conclusions:
- The appointment system appears to manage patient flow more effectively, reducing the burden of non-cardiac complaints and emergency visits.
- A longer appointment-to-visit time (≥15 days) was associated with a higher likelihood of cardiac complaints and emergency department admissions.
- Prioritizing patients based on clinical features, complaints, medical history, and cardiovascular risk factors can further enhance appointment scheduling efficiency.
Objective:
The appointment system has been developed and implemented to eliminate di���culties with queued admissions. To identify and eliminate admission gaps, this study examined the characteristics of patients who applied to the cardiology outpatient clinic via appointment and queue systems.
Methods:
The study comprised 2135 cardiology outpatients. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on whether they used appointments (group 1) or the queue (group 2). Both groups' and non-cardiac diagnosed patients' demographic, clinical, and presentational variables were compared. Comparing patients' characteristics by appointment-to-visit time was also done.
Results:
There were 1088 female participants (51%). Female gender (54.8%) and individuals aged ��� 18���64 (69.8%) years were signi���cantly higher in group 1. While the rate of ���rst admission (P = 0.003) patients was signi���cantly higher in group 1, the rate of patients followed up (P = 0.003) and disabled (P = 0.011) was signi���cantly higher in group 2. Patients' rate with non-cardiac complaints was 40.2% in group 1, but it was signi���cantly lower in group 2 at 22.2% than in group 1 (P = 0.001). Admissions to the emergency department within the last month were signi���cantly higher in group 2 than group 1 (P = 0.021), this rate was signi���cantly higher in favor of group 1 (P =.031) in patients with non-cardiac diagnoses. In addition, patients who requested a general examination and had no complaints were signi���cantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (P = 0.003). Comparing the post-examination diagnoses, it was shown that group 2 (76.3%) had a higher rate of cardiac diagnoses than group 1 (51.5%). The presence of cardiac-related complaints (P = 0.009) and appointment-to-visit time ��� 15 days (P = 0.013) were found to be signi���cant independent predictors of admission to the emergency department. The rates of patients with cardiac-related complaints (40.8%) and patients under follow-up (63%) were higher in the group with a gap of ��� 15 days between appointment-to-visit time.
Conclusion:
Prioritizing patients by complaints, clinical features, medical history, or cardiovascular risk factors can enhance appointment scheduling.
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