Anatomy of an outpatient visit. An evaluation of clinic efficiency in general and subspecialty clinics.

The time spent in outpatient visits to a Veteran's Administration medical center was measured to determine clinic efficiency. Patient flow through the outpatient department of the medical center was studied to: 1) evaluate how time is spent in VA outpatient settings as compared to non-VA outpatient settings, including waiting time, checking of vital signs, seeing the doctor, etc., 2) develop a baseline to gauge the comparison of the effects of management changes; and 3) develop a mechanism for collecting clinic activity efficiency.