TY - JOUR
T1 - Managing same day appointments
T2 - A qualitative study in Australian general practice
AU - Garth, Belinda
AU - Temple-Smith, Meredith
AU - Clark, Malcolm
AU - Hutton, Cathy
AU - Deveny, Elizabeth
AU - Biezen, Ruby
AU - Pirotta, Marie
PY - 2013/4
Y1 - 2013/4
N2 - Background General practices are required to have flexible systems to accommodate urgent appointments. Not all patients requesting a same day appointment receive one. There is scant research detailing how requests for same day appointments are managed. Our study examined this issue from the perspective of practice staff. Methods Twenty practice staff (receptionists, practice managers, general practitioners, practice nurse) from 10 general practices participated in semistructured interviews, which were audiorecorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Results All but three practices set aside appointments for patients requesting a same day appointment. Themes included contradictions between policy and practice and the role of experience in determining urgency. Five types of urgent needs for same day appointments were identified: medical, administrative, therapeutic, logistic and emotional. Discussion Practice policies must make clear roles and responsibilities for all staff managing patient appointments. Aspects of clinic policies and practices could be reviewed to reduce medicolegal risk and additional workload caused by non-medically urgent needs.
AB - Background General practices are required to have flexible systems to accommodate urgent appointments. Not all patients requesting a same day appointment receive one. There is scant research detailing how requests for same day appointments are managed. Our study examined this issue from the perspective of practice staff. Methods Twenty practice staff (receptionists, practice managers, general practitioners, practice nurse) from 10 general practices participated in semistructured interviews, which were audiorecorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Results All but three practices set aside appointments for patients requesting a same day appointment. Themes included contradictions between policy and practice and the role of experience in determining urgency. Five types of urgent needs for same day appointments were identified: medical, administrative, therapeutic, logistic and emotional. Discussion Practice policies must make clear roles and responsibilities for all staff managing patient appointments. Aspects of clinic policies and practices could be reviewed to reduce medicolegal risk and additional workload caused by non-medically urgent needs.
KW - Appointments and scheduling
KW - General practice
KW - Health service needs and demands
KW - Medical receptionists
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84876458255&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 23550252
AN - SCOPUS:84876458255
VL - 42
SP - 238
EP - 243
JO - Australian Journal of General Practice
JF - Australian Journal of General Practice
SN - 2208-794X
IS - 4
ER -