Decreasing Wait Times for New Referrals to an Outpatient Specialty Clinic

Abstract New patients to an Outpatient Allergy Clinic are waiting for 60 days or more for an appointment which is of concern because of severe allergic reactions, such as anaphylaxis, from which they could suffer. The aim of this project was to reduce the wait time by 25 percent or 15 days for all newly referred patients to the Children’s Outpatient Allergy clinic by August 1, 2016. The clinic is affiliated with a Children’s hospital, services adults and children, and sees approximately 750 patients monthly. Many patients have been on service for years. Implementation The implementation included a ‘buy in’ from stakeholders, an in-service for top referral sources, and adjusting the scheduling matrix to include seeing more new patients daily. Evaluation Currently, there are four ‘new patient slots’ created for each provider daily, with 36 new patients scheduled. The staff has shown increased effectiveness and efficiency. Recent authorizations received have been properly completed. The wait time for new patients is now 43 – 45 days. There is no available data yet for patient satisfaction scores. Conclusion Wait times for new patients have decreased by 25 percent from 60 days to 45 days, the number of new patients seen weekly has increased from 20 to 36 and complete authorization requests are being received. The recommendation is to maintain sustainability of this project by having a clinic champion, maintaining the support of the management team and including the results as an integral part of the daily work flow. Nursing Relevance Reduction in wait times will lead to improving patient satisfaction scores which is a key indicator of quality care and very relevant to nursing. This project focuses on the CNL curriculum element of Care Environment Management, utilizing the CNL competency role of Team Manager as its framework