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Joint visit in primary care clinics: Modeling, analysis, and an application study

  • Hyo Kyung Lee
  • , Xiang Zhong
  • , Jingshan Li
  • , Albert J. Musa
  • , Philip A. Bain

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

Abstract

To improve patient flow and reduce provider workload, joint visit has been proposed and implemented in many primary care clinics. In such systems, the provider and medical assistant (MA) visit the patient jointly; while the provider diagnoses and interacts with the patient, the MA handles necessary documentation work. This article introduces Markov chain models of patient flow with joint visits, and investigates the system behavior under different scenarios. To reduce the state space dimension, convergent iterative procedures are proposed. The study is extended to the non-Markovian case by introducing empirical formulas based on the mean and coefficient of variation (CV) of service times. The results have been validated with good accuracy. To illustrate the applicability of the methods, an application study at Dean East Clinic is presented. © 2018 “IISE”.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)93-109
JournalIISE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Apr 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

Funding

Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation[1233807 and 1536987].

Research Keywords

  • iteration
  • joint service
  • length of visit
  • Markov chain
  • patient flow
  • Primary care

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