Clearing the path: Leveraging operational optimization strategies to enhance patient access.

Abstract

450 Background: The complexities of navigating the healthcare system for an oncology patient can be extensive and overwhelming. Prioritizing ease of access to care is essential. The time and effort required to coordinate visits, treatments, and other appointments can result in time toxicity, limiting the patient’s ability to engage in activities that enhance their quality of life. Minnesota Oncology, a practice within The US Oncology Network, is a large community oncology practice in Minneapolis, MN with 90 providers and 14 sites of care. The leadership team at Minnesota Oncology recognized challenges with patient scheduling as a priority. This was based on patient and staff feedback which included patient satisfaction surveys, significant telephone hold times for scheduling, and missed appointments due to a delay in order processing time. Methods: The quality improvement initiative followed a methodological framework that includes identifying the root causes of challenges patients face related to access to care and the subsequent development and execution of effective improvement solutions. The primary objective of the improvement initiative was to address telephone wait times for scheduling, overall patient satisfaction with scheduling and access, and order processing time. To identify the necessary focus for interventions, a ‘Kaizen’ event was hosted involving front line scheduling and clinical staff. The team aimed to identify workflow redundancies, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies via workflow mapping and root cause analysis methodologies. Leveraging the insights gained from these approaches, the following strategies for improvement were executed: Regionalized resource utilization to maximize productivity; strategic redistribution of workload to improve efficiency; workflow redesign to streamline processes and eliminate waste; and redefinition of key performance indicators for business unit performance management. Results: Through the methodological identification of root cause analyses and a tailored execution approach, results were achieved (table.). Conclusions: The improvements in the identified categories were achieved through strategic operational optimization, without the need for additional resources. This underscores the importance of adopting a culture of methodological continuous improvement in the management of clinic operations and highlights the importance of ongoing improvement efforts in delivering efficient care and achieving favorable business and patient experience outcomes.[Table: see text]