Benefits of partial flexibility in primary care practices

Abstract

Consulta en la Biblioteca ETSI Industriales (8708)

[EN] This study has been directed by Dr. Ana Muriel. Mainly the project aims to find out the benefits of flexibility improving timely access and patient-physician continuity. These are two key measures for a primary care practice. Good things happen when physicians see their own patients. Continuity of care is rooted in a long-term patientphysician partnership in which the physician knows the patient¿s history from experience and can integrate new information and decisions from a whole-patient perspective efficiently without extensive investigation or record review. A new paradigm appeared the last decade, aimed to improve timely access, called advanced access or open-access and has been adopted by many clinics, which encourages physicians ¿to do today¿s work today¿ rather than push appointments in the future. Advanced access necessitates the design effective capacity management policies. In this study we apply the ideas of process flexibility to capacity management in a primary care practice. This leads to a system where patients can be seen by their primary care provider or additional (unfamiliar) physicians, the latter incurring a cost due to reduction of efficiency. Patients call in throughout the day and a decision has to be made immediately whether to assign the patient to a specific physician or refuse her.