Proposed Topic (Most preferred): :
Clinical Safety and Quality Service II (Projects aiming to enhance clinical safety and outcomes, clinical governance / risk management)
Proposed Topic (Second preferred): :
Enhancing Partnership with Patients and Community (Projects initiated to engage patients / carers / community to improve efficiency / quality of care)
Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong WK(1)(2), Tong SW(1)(2), Fong YL(1)(2), SO MT(2), Fong Y(1), Chung WM(1), Wu KY(1), Tang OL(2), To KY(1), Yan KH(2), Wong SY(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Specialist Out-patient Clinic, Tuen Mun Hospital, (2)Specialist Out-patient Clinic, Pok Oi Hospital
Objectives :
SOPC (Specialist Out-patient Clinic) has been facing the problem of long queuing time, which impacts the experience of patients. Prolonged queues in SOPC may induce unpleasant experiences, suffering and frustration of patients. Furthermore, the overcrowded environment raises the risk of falls, while the retention of patient flow also elevates cross-infection risk. Indeed, the number of patients and doctors fluctuates, which directly affects patients’ queuing times. Therefore, we focus on studying the correlation between patient volume, doctor availability, consultations time slots and the daily allocation of patient quotas of each clinic. The ultimate objective is to shorten the queuing time of patients and enhance their overall experience.
Methodology :
We collaborate with doctors, HIRO staff, the CDARS support team, and the HO IT&HI SMS Gateway support team. Our first step involves proactively assessing the number of doctors and patients scheduled for upcoming clinic sessions. This allows us to estimate the daily queue situation at each clinic. Based on this evaluation, we determine whether we should send an SMS to selected SOPD patients to inform them of the delayed appointment time to avoid long queues. In addition to this practice of sending SMS to patients for their appointment time rescheduling, we are currently working on the ongoing monitoring of the analytic chart that depicts the queuing condition and the time distribution of doctor consultations. This enables us to make necessary long-term adjustments to the consultation time slot and patient quota allocation of each clinic.
Result & Outcome :
With the view of shortening SOPC patient queuing time as stated in the CE’s 2022 Policy Address, our goal/KPI is streamlining total patient queuing time at SOPCs, such that 75% of patients will have queuing time within 60 minutes (from registration to doctor consultation). In November 2022, the queuing time of some specialties in NTWC SOPC could not attain the goal/KPI (i.e., 75% of patients with queuing time within 60 minutes). After executing the exercise of selectively sending SMS to inform patients the changed appointment time, we significantly improved and successfully achieved the goal/KPI. The increase in the percentage of patients with queuing time within 60 minutes are listed below: “Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) GYN from 56.4% (Nov 2022) to 89.4% (Mar 2023). TMH M&G from 61.3% (Nov 2022) to 85.9% (Mar 2023). TMH SUR from 74.9% (Nov 2022) to 82.4% (Mar 2023). Pok Oi Hospital(POH) M&G from 68.1% (Nov 2022) to 90.7% (Mar 2023). POH SUR from 64.5% (Nov 2022) to 90.6% (Mar 2023)”
