PURPOSE: Patients in vitreoretinal clinic have long wait times that could be reduced by improving the efficiency of patient flow. The objective of this study was to determine whether decentralizing optical coherence tomography (OCT) into the technicians' room would reduce patient wait times and improve clinic efficiency. METHODS: Randomized, single-center, clinical trial for 1 month without follow-up at Byers Eye Institute at Stanford. Subjects were return patients of three vitreoretinal specialists in March 2013. The intervention consisted of decentralizing OCT devices from the central photography suite into the technician screening rooms. Total clinic times and total wait times throughout subject appointments were recorded and compared with the control group (centralized photography suite). Secondary outcomes included frequency of injections, procedures, and primary diagnosis codes. RESULTS:Decentralized OCT reduced patient wait times by 74% and reduced total clinic appointment time by 36%. Subjects in the intervention arm experienced significantly reduced total wait time (mean difference = 15.9 minutes, P < 0.0001) and total time in clinic (mean difference = 22.9 minutes, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION:Decentralized OCT represents the application of lean process concepts to improve vitreoretinal clinic efficiency. Decentralized OCT reduced both the total wait time and total time in clinic for return patients in a vitreoretinal clinic.
RCT Entities:
PURPOSE:Patients in vitreoretinal clinic have long wait times that could be reduced by improving the efficiency of patient flow. The objective of this study was to determine whether decentralizing optical coherence tomography (OCT) into the technicians' room would reduce patient wait times and improve clinic efficiency. METHODS: Randomized, single-center, clinical trial for 1 month without follow-up at Byers Eye Institute at Stanford. Subjects were return patients of three vitreoretinal specialists in March 2013. The intervention consisted of decentralizing OCT devices from the central photography suite into the technician screening rooms. Total clinic times and total wait times throughout subject appointments were recorded and compared with the control group (centralized photography suite). Secondary outcomes included frequency of injections, procedures, and primary diagnosis codes. RESULTS: Decentralized OCT reduced patient wait times by 74% and reduced total clinic appointment time by 36%. Subjects in the intervention arm experienced significantly reduced total wait time (mean difference = 15.9 minutes, P < 0.0001) and total time in clinic (mean difference = 22.9 minutes, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Decentralized OCT represents the application of lean process concepts to improve vitreoretinal clinic efficiency. Decentralized OCT reduced both the total wait time and total time in clinic for return patients in a vitreoretinal clinic.
Authors: John A Musser; Juno Cho; Amy Cohn; Leslie M Niziol; Dena Ballouz; David T Burke; Paula Anne Newman-Casey Journal: BMC Ophthalmol Date: 2022-06-28 Impact factor: 2.086
Authors: Charles C Lin; Angela S Li; Hung Ma; Xiao Mei Lin; Montserrat Z Olivares; Anna Haubrich; Steven Sanislo; Diana V Do Journal: Retina Date: 2021-10-01 Impact factor: 4.256
Authors: Reena Chopra; Pádraig J Mulholland; Adam M Dubis; Roger S Anderson; Pearse A Keane Journal: Transl Vis Sci Technol Date: 2017-08-15 Impact factor: 3.283
Authors: Andrew W Kam; Scott Collins; Tae Park; Michael Mihail; Fiona F Stanaway; Noni L Lewis; Daniel Polya; Samantha Fraser-Bell; Timothy V Roberts; James E H Smith Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2021-01-07 Impact factor: 2.655
Authors: Peter Maloca; Pascal W Hasler; Daniel Barthelmes; Patrik Arnold; Mooser Matthias; Hendrik P N Scholl; Heinrich Gerding; Justus Garweg; Tjebo Heeren; Konstantinos Balaskas; J Emanuel Ramos de Carvalho; Catherine Egan; Adnan Tufail; Sandrine A Zweifel Journal: Transl Vis Sci Technol Date: 2018-07-24 Impact factor: 3.283