NOVEL OPEN-ACCESS SCHEDULING SYSTEM THAT OPTIMIZES HEALTHCARE DELIVERY SYSTEM OPERATION

摘要

A patient appointment schedule is generated for an open access time window (typically a single day). A no show likelihood is assigned for each time slot based on past patient no show (missed appointment) information, and time slots whose no show likelihood exceeds a threshold are designated as open access time slots. The patient appointment schedule is displayed. During scheduling, an unfilled time slot may be allocated to a patient so as to be converted to a tilled time slot, or conversely a filled time slot may be deallocated so that the filled time slot is converted to an unfilled time slot. However, unfilled open access time slots are allocated to patients only during the open access time window, so as to accommodate patients who should be seen on the same day they call.

主权项

1. A medical appointment scheduling system comprising:
a database (210, 212) storing past patient visit log data including at least past patient appointment date and time, and past patient visit outcome information wherein the past patient visit outcome information is at least sufficient to determine whether the past patient was a no show; one or more electronic processors (116) programmed to generate a patient appointment schedule for an open access time window, the patient appointment schedule comprising time slots, the generating including (1) assigning a no show likelihood for each time slot based on patient no show information retrieved from the database and (2) designating time slots whose no show likelihood exceeds a threshold as open access time slots; and a user interface system including a display device (112) and at least one user input device (114), the user interface system configured to: display the patient appointment schedule, allocate an unfilled time slot to a patient whereby the unfilled time slot is converted to a filled time slot, and deallocate a filled time slot whereby the filled time slot is converted to an unfilled time slot,wherein the user interface system is configured to allocate an unfilled open access time slot to a patient only during the open access time window for which the patient appointment schedule is generated.