Study to Determine the Optimal Patient Appointment System for the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center Outpatient Clinic

摘要

Increased consumer demand for general outpatient services at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center exceeded the supply of available appointments. Thus, a retrospective examination of the General Outpatient Clinic's Walk-In, Centralized, and Decentralized Patient Appointment Systems was performed. Measurements of tangible costs, physician productivity, physician and telephone operator opinions, and patient perceptions revealed the optimal System to be the Decentralized System. Additional costs required to install the Decentralized System proved insignificant, physician workload increased, and quality of care was enhanced. Both physicians, operators, and patients perceived the Decentralized System as the superior patient appointment system. Keywords: Scheduling; Hospital management; Patient appointment systems; General outpatient clinic; Patient scheduling; Military theses. (kt)