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Appl Clin Inform 2020; 11(05): 857-864
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1721320
Research Article

The Impact of Longer Consultation Time: A Simulation-Based Approach

Abdulrahman M. Jabour
1   Department of Health Informatics, Faculty of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract

Background Maintaining a sufficient consultation length in primary health care (PHC) is a fundamental part of providing quality care that results in patient safety and satisfaction. Many facilities have limited capacity and increasing consultation time could result in a longer waiting time for patients and longer working hours for physicians. The use of simulation can be practical for quantifying the impact of workflow scenarios and guide the decision-making.

Objective To examine the impact of increasing consultation time on patient waiting time and physician working hours.

Methods Using discrete events simulation, we modeled the existing workflow and tested five different scenarios with a longer consultation time. In each scenario, we examined the impact of consultation time on patient waiting time, physician hours, and rate of staff utilization.

Results At baseline scenarios (5-minute consultation time), the average waiting time was 9.87 minutes and gradually increased to 89.93 minutes in scenario five (10 minutes consultation time). However, the impact of increasing consultation time on patients waiting time did not impact all patients evenly where patients who arrive later tend to wait longer. Scenarios with a longer consultation time were more sensitive to the patients' order of arrival than those with a shorter consultation time.

Conclusion By using simulation, we assessed the impact of increasing the consultation time in a risk-free environment. The increase in patients waiting time was somewhat gradual, and patients who arrive later in the day are more likely to wait longer than those who arrive earlier in the day. Increasing consultation time was more sensitive to the patients' order of arrival than those with a shorter consultation time.

Keywords

primary health care - waiting time - workflow - simulation and modeling - quality

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

No human subjects were involved in the project.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 30 March 2020

Accepted: 22 October 2020

Article published online:
23 December 2020

© 2020. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

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