Quality improvement approach to reduce patient cycle time at a student-run free healthcare clinical network.

Autor:	Kronlage RM; University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA r.kronlage@ufl.edu., Stanley AS; University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA., Reid MJ; University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA., Shaw WH; University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA., House CE; University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA., Lossius MN; Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA., Kulla A; University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA., Coxen K; University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA., Mackie PM; University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA., Holland CK; Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	BMJ open quality [BMJ Open Qual] 2024 Oct 02; Vol. 13 (4). Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 02.
DOI:	10.1136/bmjoq-2024-002951
Abstrakt:	Background: The University of Florida (UF) Equal Access Clinic Network (EACN) is the largest student-run free healthcare clinic network in Florida. The UF EACN serves those who are underinsured or uninsured in Alachua County and its surrounding area. Nationally, average total clinic time per medical visit has been established to be 84 min. Problem: Before this project, average patient cycle time at the UF EACN was 125.3 min, and there was no established quality improvement (QI) team to implement changes to address inefficiencies. Methods: This was a prospective QI study that recorded patient cycle times for patients who received healthcare at any of the four primary care free clinics across the UF EACN from 5 July 2022 to 6 April 2023. Interventions: Eighteen Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles were tailored to each of the four primary care clinic's needs with a focus on reducing patient cycle time by addressing the following identified problems: prolonged intake process, translation services, limited numbers of volunteers, and other inefficiencies and bottlenecks in workflow. Results: The median patient cycle time at the EACN shifted from 125.3 min to 112.7 min over a nine month period. This drop of 12.6 min meant patients saw a 10.1% reduction in patient cycle time across the EACN. Conclusion: Underserved patients at EACN are experiencing increased value by having shorter patient cycle times. Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared. (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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