Same day access: a viable alternative for outpatient clinical care

Abstract

To present our experience with a novel, same-day access (SDA) scheduling model for outpatient clinical care in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS). The primary outcome variable was OMS patient scheduling in a hospital-based outpatient clinic. Patients were given a specific appointment time to be seen the same day they contacted the clinic. This SDA clinic was compared to previous patient scheduling models for patient satisfaction, appointment wait times, annual clinic volume, no-show rates, and access to care. Patient satisfaction increased to 80% with SDA scheduling compared with 20% to 40% with prior models. The average wait time for patients improved to 19 minutes compared with 330 minutes with the walk-in model. Forty patients were scheduled on the same day, and 96% of all patients who called the clinic were seen within 14 days with the SDA approach. Same-day access was the only model that met its volume and budgetary goals. The incorporation of SDA scheduling improves patient satisfaction and is a viable alternative to more traditional scheduling protocols for clinics suffering from volume, revenue, and access to care issues.