Striking a balance between when and where extra staff are added and which staff positions are brought on to combat patient wait times is vital to avoiding increasing the same patients' wait times at other parts of their care, according to research published in the British Medical Journal for Quality & Safety.
Researchers modeled capacity of a British obesity clinic. While increasing the capacity of the basic clinic reduced patient wait times, it increased surgical patient wait times. Adjusting staffing levels of both physicians and surgeons led to better capacity and organization results.
Remembering to factor in interconnectedness of clinical systems for the same patient population is critical to taking steps to making meaningful wait time reductions, researchers found.
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