Predictors of Wait Time in the Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Clinic

Autor: Connor J. Wakefield BS, Kevin Wu BS, Joe Skipor, Angad Ravanam BS, Savannah Benko BS, Daniel D. Bohl MD, MPH, Simon Lee MD, Kamran S. Hamid MD, MPH
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics, Vol 4 (2019)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2473-0114
24730114
DOI: 10.1177/2473011419S00433
Popis: Category: Health Sciences Research Introduction/Purpose: Wait times represent a critical component of the patient experience, and prolonged waits are correlated with decreased patient satisfaction. We hypothesized that time spent waiting for radiology is the largest contributor to total patient wait time in our orthopedic foot and ankle clinic. Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted in the outpatient orthopaedic foot and ankle clinic at a tertiary medical center. A total of 210 new and follow-up adult patients were enrolled. Patients were tracked from arrival until checkout with multiple time points being recorded by a trained observer. The time between patient arrival and first contact with the orthopaedic surgeon was broken down into five distinct categories. Total time between patient arrival and first contact with the orthopaedic surgeon was tested for association with patient and appointment characteristics using Student’s t-test. Results: The average total time spent waiting for first contact with the orthopaedic surgeon was 57.1±30.4 minutes. The largest contributor was time spent waiting for an exam room (33.1±25.5 minutes), followed by time spent waiting for radiologic imaging (21.7±19.9 minutes), time spent waiting for resident/PA (12.2±10.9 minutes), and time spent waiting for attending surgeon after seeing resident/PA (11.7±9.3 minutes). Factors contributing to a longer overall wait included obtaining x-rays at the visit (+15.4±4.2 minutes, 95% confidence interval [CI]=+7.0 to +23.8, p
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