Appointment System in the Hospital PDF

# Appointment System in the Hospital ## Introduction In layman's language, Appointment means Booking, but in Health Records, it means more than booking. ## Definition of Appointment System Appointment system refers to the allocation of day, date and time for out-patients to conveniently see the c...

# Appointment System in the Hospital ## Introduction In layman's language, Appointment means Booking, but in Health Records, it means more than booking. ## Definition of Appointment System Appointment system refers to the allocation of day, date and time for out-patients to conveniently see the consultants or doctors in a conducive atmosphere at the shortest possible time. ## Aims or Purpose of Appointment System The aim or purpose of an appointment system is to regulate the flow of patients at special consultative clinics to the best advantage of the patients, doctor and hospital. ## Advantages Of Appointment System To ### The Patients: - The patients have time to plan their Hospital visit. - Privacy in Examination is ensured. - Patient's waiting time is reduced. - The patient will receive the best medical attention. - It helps the patient to make arrangements for their transportation. - Each patient has enough time for examination and treatment. ### The Doctor: - The doctor has fixed time for his clinic to suit his purpose. - He has a definite knowledge of his work load. - He gives best medical attention. - He can plan ahead for investigation and treatment. ### The Hospital: - It reduce over crowding in the waiting area of Hospital. - Delay in registration and tracing of folder is reduced. - Maximum utilization of consultants services - Maximum utilization of hospital equipment and facilities - It avoids cross infection among patients. - Consultants services at the clinics add to the reputation of the hospital. ## Types of Appointment System There are basically three (3) types of appointment system, namely: - Centralized system of appointment - Decentralized system of appointment - Combination of centralized and decentralized system The Health Records department of a hospital may choose any of this three types of appointments depending on the size of the hospital and the number of consultation and specialist clinics it has. ### Centralized system of appointment: This means that the hospital has a central appointment office or section where both new and returning follow up appointments are made for all the patients attending consultant clinics. Usually, centralized appointment system has appointment officers in charge who are Health Information Managers. ### Decentralized system of appointment: This refers to a situation whereby all appointments of patients are made at the respective clinic level. Each consultation clinic makes its own appointment for its patient. Usually, the appointment is made by the physicians or Nurses, while the Health Information Manager incharge of that clinic enters into the patient reference card. ### Combination of centralized and decentralized appointment system: This is a situation where all the new appointments are made at one central office, while the returning or follow up appointments are made at respective consultation clinics. Most Hospitals use either centralized type or decentralized type of appointment system. ## Details of Booking an Appointment Before appointments are arranged, the Health Record Officer must make necessary arrangements with the medical staff who decides a reasonable number of patients to be booked against each clinic session and at intervals should it be a timed appointment or block appointment that is being used. Health Records Officer also makes prior arrangement with the medical staff as to the starting of new clinics. Arrangement should also be made with the Hospital Administrators concerning the movement of medical staff in case of their leave, absence or transfer. ## System/Method of Booking Appointment There are two methods of booking appointment; ### Timed/Scattered Method: This is a method whereby a patient is given a definite time to come to the hospital to see the physician. In this method patients know the specific time prior to their arrival and it could help them to plan their time effectively. **Advantages:** - Patients are able to plan their schedule appropriately. - Patients waiting time is reduced as the time to see the physician is known. - Hospital cross infection is reduced. **Disadvantages:** - Patients could miss their fixed time due to emergencies. - It does not give room for flexibility. ### Block method: This is the method whereby patients come at the same time and see the doctor one after the other, no definite time is given to a patient to see the doctor. **Advantages:** - Patient's could arrive at anytime and still be able to see a physician. - It gives room for flexibility since there is no fixed time. **Disadvantages:** - It leads to an increase in waiting time of patient's. - It could lead to more rowdiness in the waiting room. - Hospital acquired infections could spread faster due to the large number of people that may be present at the same time to see a physician. Whatever method is used, the clinic is worked out in consultation with the doctors and Nursing staff in charge of the clinics and a systematic review and adjustment must be made from time to time or when desired or necessary. ## Benefits of Appointment System - Reduces waiting time of patient's. - Risk of cross infection of patient's is reduced. - Reduces rowdiness and overcrowding of patients. - Leads to better time Management from both the patient's and physicians. - Reduces high workload on part of physicians. - Encourage effective utilization of hospital facilities and equipment's. - Utilization review is guaranteed. - Better and more quality attention from physicians is guaranteed. ## Challenges Militating Against Effective Appointment System - Lack of effective appointment equipments. - Illiteracy on the part of patient's. - Ignorance. - High cost of transportation. - Bad roads and traffic Management. - Overbooking of Patients. - Laziness and Laxity on the part of Health workers. - Bias on the part of Health Workers. - Bad government policies. - Ratio of Staff to Patient's. - Cultural Background and diversity of a people. ## Equipments For Booking Appointment The underlisted are some of the devices/equipments in use for booking appointment: - Visible card tray. - Loose leaves register. - Ordinary diary or diary inform of register. - Kalamazoon binder. - Computers. - Patient Reference Card. ### Detailed Description of Equipments: - **Visible card tray:** The cards containing the names and Hospital Numbers of patients are filed in trays and are easily retrievable when necessary. This method is good but expensive. It's ideal for a busy central appointment office dealing with ten or more clinics per day. - **Loose leaves register:** This is in form of diary and each page is kept for booking fresh and follow up patients. It can be done by using carbon or NCR papers. This equipment has the advantage of cutting off the need for photocopying, because it can reproduce 3-4 copies. The disadvantage of this method is that some pages can tear off. It is not flexible. - **Ordinary diary/diary inform of register:** It is a diary which has space to make entries for a day to page. - **Kalamazoon binder:** It is the same as the usual kalamazoon which is used to prepare pay roll. Whichever device or equipment is used, copies of the list of patients are made in triplicate. One is sent to the consultant in the clinic, the second is kept for administrative purpose and the third is sent to the health records library for retrieval of case notes in a day or two before the clinic day. ## Sources of Request For Appointment The request for appointment can either be first visit appointment or follow up appointment: ### First visit appointment - Request from family doctors or doctors employed in large organizations. - Request from private practitioners. - Request from General Out-Patient Department (GOPD). - Request from Accident and Emergency unit of the same Hospital for further management. - From other clinics and hospitals for further management. ### Follow up appointment - Request for follow up after consultation in the clinic. - Internal request from other departments of the same hospital. - Request for follow up from the ward after discharge.