OPD Capacity in the 21st Century: A Review of the Factors that Increase Patient Waiting Time
Keywords:
OPD capacity, patient waiting time, OPD queue, patient flow, outpatient managementAbstract
The OPD is the first point of call for patients in the hospital and requires operating at optimum capacity to ensure the smooth running of the hospital to maintain a good image to the public. Patients as individuals who are already discomforted either physically, mentally or socially require spending the shortest possible time in the hospital. The healthcare delivery system in the 21st century has undergone several changes due to the adoption of technology geared towards improving services. The OPD is no exception where technology has been adopted to reduce long queues. Despite the technology, several other contributions make up the OPD such as hospital staff working at the OPD, the patients and tailor-made protocols peculiar to hospitals. An increase in the waiting time subsequently reduces patients' satisfaction and therefore probing the factors that cause it is vital to providing quick and quality healthcare services. Therefore, the goal of this study is to investigate and elaborate on the factors that contribute to the increase in patient waiting time at the OPD. Current studies fail to focus on the several factors that contribute to the increase in waiting times but instead provide solutions that address one or a few factors. Our review, therefore, provided several solutions after identifying that staffing, demand, OPD Billing, the type of hospital, OPD layout and communication were among the several factors that increase patient waiting time in the OPD in the 21st century.
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