As Kathryn Angel's Walk-In Clinic
The case Walk-in Clinic preparation sheet
As Kathryn Angel, how do you evaluate the introduction of the triage nurses into the process of the Walk-in Clinic ?
The triage system certainly proved its value for the Walk-in Clinic. Although the average total waiting time increased after the introduction of the triage nurses, customer’s perception of the waiting time was improved. One of Maister’s laws states that a pre-process wait feels longer than an in-process wait, meaning that customers who are waiting to get in the system are much more impatient than those who are already in the system. In the case of the Walk-in Clinic the average waiting time before a physician or nurse could see you, decreased from 23 to 19.7 minutes after the installation …show more content…
of the triage system. In this way the walk-in visitors feel that they are in the system sooner and their tolerance for waiting increases.
Another advantage of having triage coordinators is the fact that duplicated efforts are eliminated by letting a triage coordinator determine if the patient has to be treated by a nurse or a doctor, where in the old system all patients, who didn’t request a particular physician, were first seen by a nurse and if the problem wasn’t solved, then refered to a doctor.
Of course the new system still had some problems, only one year after the installation. Customers complaining about the waiting times and their misunderstanding of the triage procedure are among the biggest concerns of the Walk-in Clinic.
How can the waiting times be improved and the complaints be (further) reduced ? (Be specific in your answer).
First of all the nurse practitioner guidelines need to be expanded. In this way the nurse practitioners wouldn’t have to consult physicians as often as now and valuable time would be gained. Secondly it has to be made clear to the triage nurses that an MD/NP classification is not done. Because of the use of this MD/NP classification, physicians get more of the patient load in busy situations. The physicians will do work that can be done by a nurse and people with more acute problems will have to wait longer before a physician is
available.
One of the biggest problems the Walk-in Clinic is faced with, are without any doubt the “walk-in appointments”. More and more patients are requesting a specific doctor and are making appointments with ‘their’ doctor, in this way occupying the Walk-in Clinic’s available MD resources by as much as 40% for true walk-in patients. In my opinion the Walk-in Clinic should make a clear statement that to provide the best possible care to everyone, walk-in appointments can’t be tolerated in the future. After all the purpose of a walk-in clinic is that everybody, whatever their complaints may be, can be treated with the care they deserve, but not to build strong patient-doctor relationships where the doctor knows all his patients by name. This is impossible in the sector the clinic is active in.
As Kathryn Angel, how do you evaluate the introduction of the triage nurses into the process of the Walk-in Clinic ?
The triage system certainly proved its value for the Walk-in Clinic. Although the average total waiting time increased after the introduction of the triage nurses, customer’s perception of the waiting time was improved. One of Maister’s laws states that a pre-process wait feels longer than an in-process wait, meaning that customers who are waiting to get in the system are much more impatient than those who are already in the system. In the case of the Walk-in Clinic the average waiting time before a physician or nurse could see you, decreased from 23 to 19.7 minutes after the installation …show more content…
of the triage system. In this way the walk-in visitors feel that they are in the system sooner and their tolerance for waiting increases.
Another advantage of having triage coordinators is the fact that duplicated efforts are eliminated by letting a triage coordinator determine if the patient has to be treated by a nurse or a doctor, where in the old system all patients, who didn’t request a particular physician, were first seen by a nurse and if the problem wasn’t solved, then refered to a doctor.
Of course the new system still had some problems, only one year after the installation. Customers complaining about the waiting times and their misunderstanding of the triage procedure are among the biggest concerns of the Walk-in Clinic.
How can the waiting times be improved and the complaints be (further) reduced ? (Be specific in your answer).
First of all the nurse practitioner guidelines need to be expanded. In this way the nurse practitioners wouldn’t have to consult physicians as often as now and valuable time would be gained. Secondly it has to be made clear to the triage nurses that an MD/NP classification is not done. Because of the use of this MD/NP classification, physicians get more of the patient load in busy situations. The physicians will do work that can be done by a nurse and people with more acute problems will have to wait longer before a physician is
available.
One of the biggest problems the Walk-in Clinic is faced with, are without any doubt the “walk-in appointments”. More and more patients are requesting a specific doctor and are making appointments with ‘their’ doctor, in this way occupying the Walk-in Clinic’s available MD resources by as much as 40% for true walk-in patients. In my opinion the Walk-in Clinic should make a clear statement that to provide the best possible care to everyone, walk-in appointments can’t be tolerated in the future. After all the purpose of a walk-in clinic is that everybody, whatever their complaints may be, can be treated with the care they deserve, but not to build strong patient-doctor relationships where the doctor knows all his patients by name. This is impossible in the sector the clinic is active in.