Improving Health Care Delivery at Axiom Medical PC

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Internal Functions and Processes at Axiom Medical P.C.
The Management of Patient Flow
Improving Patient Flow at Axiom Medical P.C.
Educating Stakeholders on the Policy Change
Cultural and Practical Barriers to Implementing Change
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Axiom Medical P.C. is a clinic that aims to provide top-notch care to its patients through efficient service delivery and high-class care. Being a health care provider, the institution continuously attends to patients with different diseases and conditions such as asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, and the common cold. Part of its services includes the performance of medical procedures such as diagnosis, physical examinations, treatment, and referrals for specialty care. Consequently, Axiom Medical P.C. has the capacity to handle the majority of cases that patients would present in a health setting. While the institution strives to perform to the best of its capabilities, minor issues are bound to affect its efficiency in the long run. Therefore, by implementing measures that enhance patient flow, the clinic can effectively improve performance and lead to better patient outcomes.

Patient and employee satisfaction are great drivers of success in the healthcare industry due to the varying degrees of services offered in different institutions. As a result, the majority of health institutions have a high turnover rate, with diminishing patient loyalty (Shelton & Stirman, 2018). This means that employees are likely to move to other institutions where they can achieve more. On the other hand, patients expect better health outcomes based on the high quality of care in the facilities they visit. Therefore, small health facilities such as Axiom Medical P.C. must be prepared to improve service delivery to ensure their steady growth and better performance in the long run. This can only be achieved through a thorough process of internal analysis to identify problems and come up with appropriate measures to mitigate them (Sanjaya et al., 2019). This provides a competitive edge that not only advances the capabilities and performance of its employees but further caters to improving the health outcomes of patients.

Internal Functions and Processes at Axiom Medical P.C.

The three processes that have been identified as enhancing patient care include the effective delegation of tasks, the use of technology, and the implementation of monitoring techniques. Axiom Medical P.C. has strived to ensure that it employs a number of specialized staff members to handle each aspect of the operation. More so, it also has three doctors who are in charge of handling the various patients that visit the facility. In this regard, each employee has specific duties that they have to accomplish on a daily basis to promote the smooth running of the clinic. Such delegation of activities has helped in saving time since everyone can be able to work independently when required to achieve targets. More so, individuals further have room to develop their competencies, leading to inspired employees that strive to improve the overall performance.

Apart from that, the medical clinic further employs the use of technology in the administration of activities to improve operations. The use of tools such as Electronic Health Records (EHR) ensures that patient history can be appropriately accessed by a doctor when required (Vega et al., 2019). This is important when making decisions that affect the patient, hence promoting better health outcomes through the analysis of medical records. Additionally, the automation of various activities such as employee check-in enables the clinic to track attendance and optimize daily operations.

Another important process that enhances care at Axiom Medical P.C. is the monitoring of patient flow. This involves scrutinizing traffic and resources at the clinic to ensure minimal overcrowding and deficiencies that could affect the institution’s image. Managing the processes has always been essential to ensure shorter wait times for all patients to improve overall satisfaction. Therefore, the staff is always keen on coordinating care through efficient pathways during the process, starting when a patient arrives at the clinic. Any problems arising from an increased patient flow can have significantly far-reaching consequences, including exacerbated symptoms and even mortality. Therefore, this forms an indispensable part of the facility’s mission to improve care through optimal functioning.

The Management of Patient Flow

Problems arise in medical clinics in cases where there are no structures in the procedures involving the provision of care. In most cases, Axiom Medical P.C. requires patients to make an appointment to visit the facility since the majority of the cases are non-emergencies. However, walk-ins are also accepted based on the capacity of the clinic to handle patients at any given time. However, in some instances, the number of patients can increase significantly due to longer consultations and diagnostics that affect appointments. As a result, this leads to longer wait times for patients, which ultimately affects the clinic’s outlook. The consequences of such situations include overcrowded hallways and waiting rooms, diversion of incoming patients, and delays in discharging.

As a result, the clinic introduced administrators to effectively handle patient flow through the scheduling of appointments and follow-ups to ensure that they spend the shortest time at the clinic, depending on the available resources at the time. A majority of this is done manually, through the input of patient data onto a computer system that enables tracking of each patient and the availability of a doctor. This is important since, at any point, the administrators can be able to identify the number of patients being attended to and those awaiting services. Previously, a paper trail was used to check the progress of patient movements which posed a significant burden, especially in the maintenance and handling of vast amounts of individual patient records. The use of the computer system improved the process but is still slow at times due to failures to consider other factors that affect patient movement.

The introduction of the monitoring system came at the right time since, previously, it was impossible to know which points of the service delivery operations were leading to delays. However, with the integration of patient flow management into the clinic, it became easier to track movements and plan for appropriate changes to improve efficiency. Scheduling posed the most important challenge since a high number of patients requested appointments earlier during the week, making them extremely busy while some days had little to no activities. More so, further identifying other aspects of administration, such as billing and procurement, that could potentially lead to delays has helped in mapping out the entire process chain. Therefore, the clinic has benefitted significantly from process management, especially in regards to employees who have learned how to flexibly operate to overcome any challenges presented.

Improving Patient Flow at Axiom Medical P.C.

Patient flow is integrated into the entire health care institution right from the point of entry to the discharge point. Therefore, all members of staff are required to work together to ensure every organizational process operates efficiently. The goal of patient care lies in reducing the waiting times of patients, minimizing any underlying costs for the facility, improving patient and staff satisfaction rates, and increasing productivity at the clinic (Destino et al., 2019). Therefore, by boosting the existing workflow, Axiom Medical P.C. can be effective in its mandate of providing world-class care for its patients.

Enhancing communication can improve patient flow by creating a network of collaboration between doctors, administrators, and other staff that work at the clinic. When every member of the team understands the process of achieving the objectives, it becomes easier to onboard solutions to problems that affect them. Therefore, having a leadership team that identifies issues, suggests viable solutions, and oversees appropriate changes, can assist in planning current bottlenecks and outline their perceived impact on performance (Rosen et al., 2018). Communication is therefore considered crucial in spearheading the call for viable change that can lead to benefits not only to the employees and facility at large but also to patient health.

Apart from that, embracing technology to prevent monotonous work is efficient in addressing time constraints for different staff to support others in achieving important goals. More so, non-clinical services that support the operations of the clinic can be integrated into the planning system, thus enhancing speed and efficiency (Browne et al., 2018). Administrative aspects such as billing, housekeeping, and procurement that form part of the patient flow must also be considered essential parts of the clinic that can be improved. This can be done through automation, such as real-time location systems that can identify the location of staff and critical equipment in the healthcare setting. As a result, both employees and their required tools can be accessed when required, thus improving response times.

Changing the policy requires the use of evidence-based results to demonstrate the efficacy of such new policy shifts. This means that it requires the identification of similar health settings that have successfully implemented such new technologies and changes. This will help in building a case for the introduction of such changes in the clinic to gain management support that would ultimately integrate it (Shelton & Stirman, 2018). Therefore, using a real-life case study will require visits to such facilities coupled with data sheets on actual throughput over a select period which can be used for base case comparisons with Axiom Medical P.C. Therefore, once it is clear that such innovations improve performance, it becomes easier to convince management to implement them.

Educating Stakeholders on the Policy Change

Change management is crucial for organizations intending to introduce new processes and procedures to enhance service delivery. Therefore, by understanding the right implementation strategies, an organization can prevent the possibility of conflicts hindering the process (Braithwaite et al., 2018). It is thus important to adequately educate team members of impending changes long before they are actualized to help them prepare beforehand.

The first step will involve the development of a basis for the change in policy on patient flow based on the challenges previously experienced at the clinic. Ensuring that individuals understand why the alterations are being brought about allays any fears that they may have about the management’s intentions (Rosen et al., 2018). Subsequently, engagement of all the stakeholders will provide a platform for everyone involved with the clinic to interact with the proposed changes and provide feedback during the planning phase on the best approaches moving forward (Destino et al., 2019). This is essential in creating an environment where the views of each member are appreciated and integrated, thus increasing the acceptance rates.

The next phase will involve the development of an appropriate roadmap that outlines the steps that will be put in place to achieve the change initiative. A clear and direct route showing the role of each individual in the facility will be important in preparing for the integration of the new processes (Browne et al., 2018). This will involve provisions for the purchase of relevant systems, employment of additional staff, and resources for necessary training sessions. Ultimately, having such plans reduces rushed measures that would increase the pressure on employees and result in conflicts that would potentially delay the process.

The final step would involve the reiteration of the need for monitoring and tracking changes throughout the process. This is essential in evaluating the progress of the measures put in place to achieve improved performance in the clinic. Any identified processes that do not significantly add value would require re-evaluation to check whether they can be improved or removed from the implementation plan (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2019). This ensures that only the most viable solutions continue to be implemented in the facility to bolster productivity for all employees. Monitoring and evaluation thus play a critical role in ensuring that efforts and resources committed towards the processes are utilized effectively and ultimately have a great return on investment.

The above steps form part of the avenues for education to all members at Axiom Medical P.C. to help them understand the purpose of the changes. Once all members come to a consensus on the importance of improving patient flow at the clinic, it will be easier to implement the changes without disgruntles that would otherwise stall them. More so, people appreciate being informed about such measures and the possible benefits they hold to eventually gunner the required support.

Cultural and Practical Barriers to Implementing Change

The biggest barrier to the implementation of change in the facility may involve skepticism or resistance by staff members. Without the full support of the entire establishment, suggesting or making changes may be difficult and opposed by all means to maintain the status quo (Shelton & Stirman, 2018). This is because individuals may be resistant to alterations. Thus, any changes are perceived to be targeting them. It is therefore important to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to create forums for discussions and engagement before commencing the process of change.

Apart from that, a shortage of resources may also affect the possibility of implementing meaningful change in the clinic. This is a practical barrier that can create circumstances in which the needed implementations that require an investment cannot be facilitated from an economic perspective. As a result, the concept may slow down the process leading to poor performance, thus affecting the overall outlook of the change process (Vega et al., 2019). Therefore, appropriate measures should be identified and used to reduce the substantial initial budget for the introduction of new processes and technologies. This will provide the leeway for the clinic to achieve early wins that are visible to all hence pushing the team to achieve more.

Furthermore, a lack of management support can further derail the implementation process since they are perceived to be the leaders driving the process. Employees in the clinic that implement the new processes from scratch should be able to depend on their management team to support in advice, technical issues, and addressing any problems that arise (Sanjaya et al., 2019). Without such support, junior officers may be unable to fully address critical aspects of the change process that lay the basis for the entire process. As a result, this may lead to a breakdown in the process, affecting the viability of the suggested changes.

Conclusion

Axiom Medical P.C. attends to patients with different diseases and conditions such as asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, and the common cold. More so, its services include the performance of medical procedures such as diagnosis, physical examinations, treatment, and referrals. The clinic has strived to improve performance by employing a number of specialized staff members to handle each aspect of operation, use of technology in the administration of activities to improve tasks, and monitoring traffic and resources at the clinic to minimize aspects that could affect the institution’s image. However, some challenges have still been experienced, especially in the scheduling and monitoring of patient flow based on the activities of various stakeholders. As a result, enhancing the integration of patient flow management into the clinic will enable easier tracking movements within the facility and plan for appropriate adaptations to improve efficiency.

Enhancing the patient flow requires communication between doctors, administrators, and other staff that work at the clinic, embracing technology to prevent monotonous work and the use of evidence-based results to demonstrate the efficacy of such new policy shifts. More so, by educating stakeholders to understand the need and the appropriate implementation strategies, an organization can prevent the possibility of conflicts hindering the process. Consequently, overcoming challenges such as skepticism or resistance by staff members, shortage of resources and support by management can increase the chances of success. All members at Axiom Medical P.C. must thus understand the purpose of the changes aimed at enhancing patient flow to improve operational effectiveness and efficiency of the clinic.

References

Braithwaite, J., Churruca, K., Long, J. C., Ellis, L. A., & Herkes, J. (2018). When complexity science meets implementation science: a theoretical and empirical analysis of systems change.BMC Medicine, 16(63), 1-14.

Browne, A. J., Varcoe, C., Ford-Gilboe, M., Wathen, C. N., Smye, V., Jackson, B. E.,… Garneau, A. B. (2018). Disruption as opportunity: Impacts of an organizational health equity intervention in primary care clinics.International Journal for Equity in Health, 17(154), 1-16.

Destino, L., Bennett, D., Wood, M., Acuna, C., Goodman, S., Asch, S. M., & Platchek, T. (2019). Improving Patient Flow: Analysis of an Initiative to Improve Early Discharge. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 14(1), 22-27.

Rosen, M. A., DiazGranados, D., Dietz, A. S., Benishek, L. E., Thompson, D., Pronovost, P. J., & Weaver, S. J. (2018). Teamwork in healthcare: Key discoveries enabling safer, high-quality care.American Psychologist, 73(4), 433–450.

Sanjaya, G. Y., Mubasysyir, L. L., & Kusnanto, H. H. (2019). Using Hospital Claim Data to Develop Referral Decision Support Systems: Improving Patient Flow from The Primary Care.Procedia Computer Science, 161, 441-448.

Shelton, R. C., & Stirman, S. W. (2018). The sustainability of evidence-based interventions and practices in public health and health care.Annual Review of Public Health, 39, 55–76.

Teitelbaum, J. B., & Wilensky, S. E. (2019). Essentials of Health Policy and Law. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Vega, P., Losi, S., Sprague Martinez, L., Bovell-Ammon, A., Garg, A., James, T.,… Pelletier, P. (2019). Implementing an EHR-based Screening and Referral System to Address Social Determinants of Health in Primary Care.Medical Care, 57(133), 133-139.

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