Physician availability and patient punctuality are not the only factors which can affect outpatient clinic efficiency, but they can have a significant impact. Patients with chronic conditions require frequent outpatient appointments. Problems can arise at different parts of the outpatient clinic process making it difficult to effectively care for high volumes of patients.
Patients' experiences of waiting for treatment have changed dramatically in recent years in the United Kingdom's National Health Service.
There has been a substantial reduction in the mean wait but the characteristics of the distributions have also changed significantly, implying a change in priorities and waiting list management.
Simulations are often used to assess proposals for investment and reorganisation that might affect waiting time. This paper examines the effectiveness of a FIFO model.
SIMUL8 Partner, Novasim, worked with the US Government Department of Indian health Services to develop a generalized discrete event simulation tool that analyzed client flows in a system of 13 outpatient clinics.
This tool, used by IHS analysts, with support from NovaSim, helped to redesign their client flows in order to better serve client needs.
100% utilization is not a realistic - nor desirable - outcome. So how do we set an optimal utilization target? It depends on your market, your patients, and your goals - and you can use simulation to pinpoint the right target for your facility.
If you're considering simulation for your next project, our team are happy to help.
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