Publication Cover
Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings
The peer-reviewed journal of Baylor Scott & White Health
Volume 35, 2022 - Issue 3
43
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Research

Decreasing waiting time for new patients at a community pain clinic

, MD, MBA, , MD & , MD
Pages 315-318 | Received 03 Jan 2022, Accepted 10 Feb 2022, Published online: 09 Mar 2022
 

Abstract

Long waiting time to access pain medicine clinics poses a significant mental, physical, and socioeconomic burden on patients with chronic pain. This project aimed to develop interventions to reduce the waiting time for new referrals. We used the define, measure, analyze, improve, control (DMAIC) method. Clinic data were analyzed over a 6-month period. Pilot interventions were then implemented in one provider’s clinic over a 3-month period. Outcome measures included the number of new patients seen, number of “no shows,” and number of patients on the waitlist. Late cancellation and no shows were the main causes of the clinic lost time. Interventions to reduce unutilized clinic time were implemented, including making appointment reminder calls, identifying cancellations in advance, and adding slots on the provider’s template to account for cancellations and no shows. These interventions resulted in a 16% decrease in no shows, a 60% increase in new patients seen, and a significant 47% reduction in the number of patients on the entire clinic waitlist. These findings suggest that simple procedures and changes in the clinic identified via a quality improvement process can significantly improve clinic time utilization.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 37.00 Add to cart

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.