Outpatient traffic analysis and management study of the hospital / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the pattern of outpatients traffic,orchestra service resources,and optimize service provision,for a harmonized outpatient service.Methods A baseline survey was made at the outpatient department in 30 days(six hours per day,7:00-11:00,and 13:00-15:00).On such basis,data of the hospital's HIS system within the last five years were called into play for statistics analysis and simulation test,for the purpose of shift scheduling and resources allocation optimization.Results This study discovered each January-February as the valley of clinic visits and each July-August as the peak.52-week data analysis of a year found that the days of daily registrations between 4000-5000 are up to 163 days,those over 5000 are up to 86 days,of which Mondays with over 5000 registrations are up to 35 days.Each Monday is found to be a peak of outpatient visits,with significant drop during Saturdays and Sundays; daily registrations peak between 7:00-10:00 in the morning,while the traffic rises again during 13:00-14:00 in the afternoon,yet up to 26 ％of the morning peak only.Conclusion Statistics analysis of the outpatient service and emergency service at the outpatient department can help identify their patterns of operations,for effective improvement of service provision,alleviation of peak hour workload,shorten patient waiting time and better patient satisfaction.