you; why am I here so long?'" Mr.
Rabourn said.
He suggested practices look
at their digital record systems to
check what times patients arrive and
depart. For instance, a record review
might reveal patients arrive at 8:00
a.m. but don't depart until 11:00
a.m.
"Why were they there for 3
hours; what did they have done?" he
said. "If it is taking 3 hours for the
patient from check in to check out,
those are quick signs that there is an
issue. Your computer system can help
you."
said William Rabourn Jr., manag-
ing principal, Medical Consulting
Group, Springfield, Missouri. He has
seen practices with months-long wait
times for patients.
Another indicator is fewer new
patients coming to a practice.
"If I'm not seeing new patients
in the practice, maybe I am seeing
a problem," Mr. Rabourn said. "Is
my staff bad? Are my wait times too
long? Can no one get in to see me?"
An even more uncomfortable
indicator of patient flow problems is
a large number of patient complaints.
"[Patients] are getting better at
telling you, 'I waited forever to see
To effectively address
patient flow, practices need
to focus on the two distinct
challenges of long wait
times for appointments and
intra-office delays in care,
advisers say
H
ow does an oph-
thalmology practice
know its facing
problems with pa-
tient flow?
One indication is long and
growing appointment wait times,
Steps to improve
patient flow
by Rich Daly, Ophthalmology Business Contributing Writer
continued on page 26
July 2018 • Ophthalmology Business 25
