A SIMULATION STUDY OF APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING RULES, ROLE OF PATIENTCLASSIFICATION ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON AMBULATORY CARE PERFORMANCE

摘要

The current climate in health care industry is typified by ever-increasing demands forefficiency, and simultaneous demands for patient satisfaction. One vital point at which these two demandsintersect is the scheduling of ambulatory care visits. This paper investigates interactions among patientclassification, patient sequencing, appointment scheduling rules, and environmental factors on patient and doctorrelatedmeasures. Results indicate that patient sequencing has a greater effect on ambulatory care performancethan the choice of an appointment rule, and that environmental factors such as walk-ins, no-shows, patientpunctuality, and overall session volume, affect performance, and the ultimate selection of an appointment system.