The Role Of Medical Secretaries In Appointment Management And Reducing Patient Waiting Times In Hospitals

Abstract

Appointments are an integral part of healthcare. Hospitals are open to the public, and demands are anticipated daily because of patients calling, visiting the outpatient clinic, or emailing for an appointment. The number of anticipated patients is substantial, and significant wait times arise not just for first appointments but also for follow-up visits. Many healthcare systems are concerned about their scheduling process and initiatives, and how they coordinate and manage appointments across various clinical departments. The waiting time for patients to receive an appointment is a key performance indicator of the quality of a healthcare system (Ahmad Zaher Zaghloul & Younes Abou El Enein, 2010). Each healthcare facility has its own unique scheduling model or system.

Medical appointments are an important aspect of people’s lives and scheduling them efficiently is essential for both healthcare personnel and patients. Scheduling addresses when, where, and by whom a health service is provided, and it directly influences hospital workflow productivity and patient satisfaction. Most outpatient appointments, in addition to general practitioners’ and home-care appointments, are made using a request management process; patients address their request to the hospital and must wait for processing and decision before a date and time is returned to them (Huang, 1970).