Redesigning scheduling templates to improve patient wait time and access in a pediatric outpatient clinic

The current scheduling templates for attendings and residents in a pediatric outpatient clinic of a large urban academic medical center caused longer wait times and reduced care access (days to next available appointment) to patients. This study proposes an optimization model to design a new provider scheduling that (1) establishes new visit types and durations in line with patients’ need and time required to complete each visit, and (2) provides prompt care for the patients in each of the visit types based on actual demands. The proposed scheduling template used seven months of patient visit and scheduling data from the electronic health system. We develop a simulation model to compare the current and proposed scheduling templates’ performances. The results show significant reductions in the average patient wait time and average access days based on the proposed templates. Other specialties in outpatient settings can use the proposed methodology in redesigning their appointment scheduling templates.