Utilizing quality improvement tools to improve wait times in an outpatient setting

Patient satisfaction and efficiency have become two primary drivers for quality improvement projects across all sectors of healthcare, hospital and outpatient clinics alike. To improve these metrics, a quality improvement tool was used to identify inefficient workflows and barriers that lead to long wait times for patients in an outpatient clinical setting. Through shadowing, data analysis, and interviews, interventions were developed and implemented to improve scripting and patient flow through the clinic. These interventions helped to improve wait time by 13.3%. The improvement in wait time is promising and offers insight as to how to improve processes in an outpatient setting. This study is relevant to public health due to its direct impact on efficiency and patient experience in an outpatient clinical setting