Patient arrival pattern and waiting time analysis for a tertiary hospital radiology department

Abstract

Background: High patient load and ineffective appointment scheduling has been linked to hospital overcrowding. This article investigated the appointment scheduling method, patient waiting times and overall treatment times. These figures were subsequently compared against patient arrival and examination times. Method: In total, 768 adult ambulant patients were part of a real-time observation that was conducted in a tertiary hospital's radiology department in Nigeria. The scheduling method, arrival time, treatment time and waiting time for each patient was noted. The analytical software, MATLAB, was used for data analysis. Results: A single block appointment time of 7.30 was given to all patients. For any given day, mean patient arrival per hour (arrival rate) was 7 ± 5.4 patients per hour. Patient arrival rate distribution showed a pattern that resulted in the identification of three segments with stable arrival rates: 7:00–10:00, 10:00-13:00 and 13:00-16:00 with arrival rates of 12, 6 and 2 patients per hour, respectively. The mean waiting time was 116.2 minutes.