Most doctors’ appointments start late, studies find

Brock researchers use data to propose scheduling fixes

The cure to late doctors’ appointments is better scheduling, according to studies by Brock University that found around half of all doctors appointments do not start on time.

In two separate studies that included data from more than 650 patients, researchers found that most appointments start late because physicians were not yet available. Few were because the patients arrived late.

Around 50 per cent of doctors’ ap- pointments start late, a news release by Brock University said Tuesday. One-third of appointments, the studies found, began early, and the rest were on time.

Scheduling would be easy if no one ever ran late, according to Brock professors Kenneth Klassen and Reena Yoogalingam, who completed the two studies in 2013 and 2014 and recently revisited their research into the ongoing problem in the Conversation, a publication focused on academics and research.

The reality, however, they said, is that health care is unpredictable due to the fact that appointments can take longer than expected, physicians may be interrupted by emer- gencies or people can arrive late.

Using real-world data, Klassen and Yoogalingam’s research found possible solutions to the problem using creative scheduling methods that fit with the often unpredictable reality of health-care wait times.

Two new methods, the researchers said, would allow for effective appointment scheduling allowing doctors to see more patients a day and ultimately reduce the number of days people wait for their appointments by increasing capacity.

The first solution would be to schedule appointments closer together at the start and end of the day but spread appointments farther apart between the midday hours.

The second approach, the researchers suggested, is to book appointments closer together and in clusters of two or three with a bit of time in between each cluster. As the day unfolds, the time between appointments would shrink, they said, but the time between clusters would increase.

These methods, the researchers said, would keep physicians busy and help them see more patients per day.

Most appointments start late because physicians were not yet available. Few were because the patients arrived late