Queuing Efficiency Delights Patients and Pharmacists Alike
The United States Naval Submarine Base Ambulatory Care Center Pharmacy in Groton, Connecticut is an outpatient medical treatment facility that provides primary medical care and coordinates access to other levels of health care services for active duty, retirees and eligible family members entitled to care prescribed by Title 10 U.S. Code. NACC Groton is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of HealthCare Organizations (JCAHO).
Situation
The NACC Pharmacy in Groton provides a wide range of services to an ever growing military and civilian population. When faced with the challenge of managing the growing number of people seeking access, the NACC Pharmacy began researching for ways to make the patient flow process more effective and less stressful for their patients.
"Before, we allowed our patients to determine their own level of care, which led to patient frustration," said Lieutenant Commander Edward Moldenhauer, Pharmacy Director at the Naval Ambulatory Care Center. "We knew that we should be driving the patient process, instead of the patients driving us."
The best way to manage patient flow is to shift the burden of directional control from manual resources to a completely automatic system. Qmatic Corporation's wide range of queuing management hardware and software products offered such a solution and was ideal for the NACC's pharmacy patient flow process.
"From a management standpoint, the Qmatic system allows me to be fluid in how I move my people around or to adapt what is going on at the time."
Solution
With the Qmatic solution in place, as patients enter the outpatient department, they proceed to the station which is equipped with a Qmatic ticket printer, capable of printing on-demand bar-coded, alphanumeric tickets. Patients are triaged and categorized tickets are generated based on patient care urgency. One ticket is given to the patient and a duplicate accompanies their prescriptions. The Qmatic software automatically prioritizes workflow based on service category and tracks service date for subsequent report generation.
When the prescriptions are complete, an attendant scans the bar-coded prescription ticket. An automatic voice announcer unit and LED displays, located in the lobby, announce the ticket number and direct each patient to the appropriate counter.
Patients can enjoy the freedom of leaving the waiting area and return to pick-up their prescriptions later. Upon returning, the patient scans his/her ticket at a self-service kiosk, which automatically re-enters the patient into the queue and displays a message, such as: "Your RX is now ready. You will be called shortly."
Statistics can be generated to refl ect wait and transaction time data collected by the Qmatic system. Lieutenant Commander Moldenhauer looks at the average wait times and the total number of patients cared for in a day and correlates that data with the prescription fill system. This allows him to view the "prescriptions per patient" averages, which, in turn, helps him better understand how to utilize manpower and metrics during his busier periods.
"This allows us to have staff aligned for the times when most patients are visiting the pharmacy," said Moldenhauer. "The Qmatic system affords us the opportunity to prioritize, streamline and place our efforts where and when they need to go."
Today's patients are pleased by the NACC pharmacy patient flow system. "We have decreased overall wait times and have found that 95% of our patients are satisfied with the steps we have made."
The NACC Pharmacy patient flow process sends a clear message that it values all aspects of the patient experience.
Benefits:
- Automatic patient prioritization
- Lower wait times and better use of staff equals less stress on patients and staff
- Automatic patient calling via displays and voice announcer
- Assists in conforming to HIPAA standards
- Enhances patient's perception of care
- Automatic reporting on employee performance and fill times