Navigating Patient Flow: Assessing the Bottlenecks in Out-Patient Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India
Introduction: Patient flow in hospital outpatient departments (OPDs) is affected by bottlenecks arising from patient load and service capacity mismatch. We evaluated OPD service bottlenecks at a medical college in India by measuring patient flow and service delivery rates and examined possible assoc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2024-07-01
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| Series: | Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/DSHMJ.DSHMJ_63_24 |
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| _version_ | 1849231856303603712 |
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| author | Abhishek De Shibaji Gupta Arup Chakraborty |
| author_facet | Abhishek De Shibaji Gupta Arup Chakraborty |
| author_sort | Abhishek De |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction:
Patient flow in hospital outpatient departments (OPDs) is affected by bottlenecks arising from patient load and service capacity mismatch. We evaluated OPD service bottlenecks at a medical college in India by measuring patient flow and service delivery rates and examined possible associations between the service rate and sociodemographic variables.
Methods:
Two hundred and fifty-two eligible patients in the queue were selected by systematic random sampling from general medicine, respiratory medicine, general surgery, and orthopedic OPDs. Structured interview schedules and checklists were used to gather required information. Waiting times and service delivery rates were compared statistically.
Results:
Most patients were newly registered (63.89%) and visited the institute directly (87.30%). Surgery had the highest number of doctors. In all OPDs, patient flow exceeded the doctor service rate; the orthopedic OPD had the longest waiting time to see a doctor (85.71% of total time). Patients attending the surgery OPD had the least waiting time and maximum consultation time (25.62% and 65.88% of the total time, respectively). Waiting and consultation times varied significantly between the OPDs. In respiratory medicine, patients took a significantly longer time to consult (P = 0.032).
Conclusions:
The study recommends facilitating properly scheduled consultation times, rearrangement of infrastructure, and a larger healthcare workforce in OPDs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7565c63ab64d4056bc3a7b9fbf20c1ad |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2666-819X 2590-3349 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-7565c63ab64d4056bc3a7b9fbf20c1ad2025-08-21T05:16:22ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsDr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal2666-819X2590-33492024-07-016313614110.4103/DSHMJ.DSHMJ_63_24Navigating Patient Flow: Assessing the Bottlenecks in Out-Patient Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in IndiaAbhishek DeShibaji GuptaArup ChakrabortyIntroduction: Patient flow in hospital outpatient departments (OPDs) is affected by bottlenecks arising from patient load and service capacity mismatch. We evaluated OPD service bottlenecks at a medical college in India by measuring patient flow and service delivery rates and examined possible associations between the service rate and sociodemographic variables. Methods: Two hundred and fifty-two eligible patients in the queue were selected by systematic random sampling from general medicine, respiratory medicine, general surgery, and orthopedic OPDs. Structured interview schedules and checklists were used to gather required information. Waiting times and service delivery rates were compared statistically. Results: Most patients were newly registered (63.89%) and visited the institute directly (87.30%). Surgery had the highest number of doctors. In all OPDs, patient flow exceeded the doctor service rate; the orthopedic OPD had the longest waiting time to see a doctor (85.71% of total time). Patients attending the surgery OPD had the least waiting time and maximum consultation time (25.62% and 65.88% of the total time, respectively). Waiting and consultation times varied significantly between the OPDs. In respiratory medicine, patients took a significantly longer time to consult (P = 0.032). Conclusions: The study recommends facilitating properly scheduled consultation times, rearrangement of infrastructure, and a larger healthcare workforce in OPDs.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/DSHMJ.DSHMJ_63_24bottleneckhealthcareservice deliverytime studywaiting time |
| spellingShingle | Abhishek De Shibaji Gupta Arup Chakraborty Navigating Patient Flow: Assessing the Bottlenecks in Out-Patient Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal bottleneck healthcare service delivery time study waiting time |
| title | Navigating Patient Flow: Assessing the Bottlenecks in Out-Patient Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India |
| title_full | Navigating Patient Flow: Assessing the Bottlenecks in Out-Patient Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India |
| title_fullStr | Navigating Patient Flow: Assessing the Bottlenecks in Out-Patient Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Navigating Patient Flow: Assessing the Bottlenecks in Out-Patient Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India |
| title_short | Navigating Patient Flow: Assessing the Bottlenecks in Out-Patient Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India |
| title_sort | navigating patient flow assessing the bottlenecks in out patient services in a tertiary care hospital in india |
| topic | bottleneck healthcare service delivery time study waiting time |
| url | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/DSHMJ.DSHMJ_63_24 |
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