{"id":20601,"date":"2023-03-28T09:31:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T14:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lightning-bolt.com\/?post_type=blog&p=20601"},"modified":"2024-08-16T13:52:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T18:52:23","slug":"physician-scheduling-patient-care","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.lightning-bolt.com\/blog\/physician-scheduling-patient-care\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Provider Scheduling Impact Patient Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Creating positive experiences for both providers and patients is a primary goal for every health system. With pressing issues like provider burnout<\/a> and staffing shortages still presenting major challenges for the healthcare industry, it\u2019s worth considering how a foundational piece of technology like physician scheduling software <\/a>can impact not just physicians but also the patients they serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manual schedule builds and rudimentary scheduling software cause headaches for administrators and physicians. That\u2019s precisely why advanced scheduling solutions<\/a> exist\u2014to streamline the process and build better, more balanced schedules while taking provider preferences into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how, exactly, does optimized provider scheduling impact patient care? We\u2019re glad you asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improving the Patient Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Patient Expectations<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Patient expectations have changed. They want more convenience, more access to online or virtual care, and shorter wait times.1<\/sup> The waiting room is a \u201ckey location for patient dissatisfaction,\u201d2<\/sup> as 84% of patients in clinic and hospital lobbies agree that a reasonable wait time is crucial to the quality of their experience.3<\/sup> One study cited operating room scheduling and efficiency as an often-unanticipated factor in the competition for inpatient beds,4<\/sup> meaning an advanced scheduling solution\u2014which improves scheduling efficiency\u2014can improve patient satisfaction and access. 
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Optimized provider scheduling can reduce patient wait times and increase access to care by tracking which providers have a high or low patient load and making corrections that yield more equitable schedules for hospital care teams. This allows organizations to better align resources with patient demand<\/a> to ensure patients don\u2019t experience excessive wait times or, even worse, get turned away entirely. Improving the patient experience reduces patient leakage and mitigates some of the downstream financial impacts associated with lower patient satisfaction levels.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patient Outcomes<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Increasing patient access is beneficial not only to the patient experience but also to health outcomes. When wait times are excessive or health systems are understaffed, patients may not be able to see a provider in a timely manner. Unsurprisingly, this can easily lead to negative health outcomes. For example, if an emergency department (ED) builds schedules manually and has no (or limited) ability to analyze trends\u2014say, for patients seen per doctor per day\u2014they may not be able to anticipate or adequately respond to fluctuating patient loads. A patient who arrives at an understaffed ED is likely to experience delayed treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to research, ED crowding is \u201cassociated with higher morbidity and mortality, delayed pain control, delayed time to administration of antibiotics, increased medical errors, and less-than-optimal health care.\u201d6<\/sup> The same study found that decision-to-departure time intervals for patients admitted to the ED are directly tied to ED crowding. Delayed treatment can make a patient\u2019s total care journey more expensive, not to mention the fact that it ends up taking more of their time and potentially souring their relationship with the healthcare organization in question. And because research shows that positive patient-provider relationships are linked to better patient outcomes,7<\/sup> it\u2019s essential to create an environment where providers have a balanced workload to give them optimal time to interact with and address the concerns of each patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An optimized scheduling solution can mitigate the risk of negative patient outcomes<\/a> by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n