Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access Getting to Now (2015) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
5 Getting to Now
5 Getting to Now
Pages 79-90
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 79... ...
To reach the goal of immediate engagement, given the complexity of the health care system and the interdependence of participants and processes, no single stakeholder alone can bring about the changes needed to improve access. In the face of both the increasing complexity of diseases and interventions and the need for greater efficiency and effectiveness, the roles of health care providers have been changing rapidly, from the traditional model of autonomous practice to the current ideal of collaborative, team-based care.
|
From page 80... ...
As part of the redesign process, decision makers must make creative use of the full range of factors that help to smooth demand and improve supply, including digital technologies, social media, telemedicine, and other new avenues of care delivery. Continuous personal, organizational, and national learning should be the driving forces for improved access, simplified scheduling, and decreased wait times for the nation.
|
From page 81... ...
• est practices: Emerging best practices have improved health care access B and scheduling in various locations and serve as promising bases for research, validation, and implementation. • eadership: Leadership at every level of the health care delivery system is L essential to steward and sustain cultural and operational changes needed to reduce wait times.
|
From page 82... ...
Full accountng of capacity elements, scrupulously monitoring the volume and i nature of demand, process redesign aimed at improving patient flow and clinic workflow, and better matching patient needs with available staff skills and duties can improve patient volume and access, decrease the cost of care, and lessen the need to add personnel. Reframing and Expanding Alternate Supply Options Finding: Alternatives to in-office physician visits, including the use of nonphysician clinicians and technology-mediated consultations, can often meet
|
From page 83... ...
Lack of Standards for Timely Access to Care Finding: Standardized measures and benchmarks for timely access to health care are needed for reliable assessment and improvement of health care scheduling. Standards are needed to provide reliable information on comparative performance across various care settings, practices, and circumstances with respect to patient and family experience, including care match with patient goals; scheduling practices, patterns, and wait times; cycle times; the provision of and performance experience regarding alternative care models; and effective care continuity.
|
From page 84... ...
. The committee recommendations are aimed at the widespread adoption of the basic access principles described in Chapter 4 and summarized in Box 5-3: supply matched to projected demand, immediate engagement, patient preference, care tailored to need, surge contingencies, and continuous assessment.
|
From page 85... ...
Recommendations for National Leadership The committee recommends that 1. National initiatives to address scheduling and access issues related to primary, specialty, hospital, and post-acute care appointments should be anchored in spreading and implementing basic access principles, including: supply matched to projected demand, imme diate engagement, patient preference, care tailored to need, surge contingencies, and continuous assessment.
|
From page 86... ...
d. Major federally operated direct clinical service providers, in cluding the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, should work individually and cooperatively to develop and test emerging best practices across different settings and geographic locations.
|
From page 87... ...
b. Access assurance networks -- Support strategies should be de veloped to encourage access assurance networks, such as inter organization backup and redundancy plans.
|
From page 88... ...
8. The leadership and governing bodies at each level of the health care delivery sites should demonstrate commitment to implementing the basic access principles through visible and sustained direction, workflow and workforce adjustment, the continuous monitoring and reframing of supply and demand, the effective use of technol ogy throughout care delivery, and the conduct of pilot improve ment efforts.
|
From page 89... ...
Tools such as Lean and the lessons learned from such industries as aviation and customer service have demonstrated the significant potential that exists in the health care system for gains in efficiency and access. The success in some places of applying queuing theory and engineering models to deal with the complexity inherent in health care scheduling -- the diversity of populations served, the range of services provided, and the frequency of no-shows and other anomalies -- offers but one example of the importance of a system-wide perspective across all aspects of health care in embedding engineering practices, tools, and skills as a fundamental component of health care that continuously learns and improves.
|
From page 90... ...
90 TRANSFORMING HEALTH CARE SCHEDULING AND ACCESS feedback, and initiative at every level of the organization. The basics of a culture of service excellence, with the full involvement of patients and families, commitment to continuous monitoring and assessment, transparency, accountability, and empowering organizational leadership and decision making from participants at every level, will help ensure that every patient -- whether they are seeking help immediately or at a later point -- receives the right care at the time they need and expect it.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.