Baylor College of Medicine Innovates with Provider Accessibility Tracking Tool
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Third Next Available Appointment Data Mart Developed by PDS to Monitor Quality
HOUSTON, Oct. 10 -- Baylor College of Medicine has introduced a quality measurement tool to track third next available patient appointments. Patient accessibility to healthcare is defined by the ability to seek and receive medical services from a provider of choice, and the standard metric to measure this quality indicator is referred to as the third next available appointment.
The average number of days to the third next available appointment is an important metric to monitor because patients with better access to a provider have higher satisfaction rates and improved medical outcomes -- according to numerous studies on advanced access models. Baylor is tracking this measurement for nearly 750 affiliated physicians through tools developed by Practice Diagnostic Systems (PDS).
Provider and departmental outliers with a high average number of days to third next available appointment, coupled with low productivity metrics, indicate opportunities for improvement. "We have historically found 3rd next available appointment measure difficult to calculate, typically involving the manipulation of data from canned billing system reports. PDS was able to help us integrate our existing billing system data into a business intelligence environment and develop a 3rd next available data mart," says Dan Diprisco, Director of Decision Support at Baylor College of Medicine.
According to Diprisco, "Since the completion of this data mart, we have been able to include the 3rd next available measure on our monthly Patient Access Dashboards. Additionally, by using the PDS dashboarding tool, we have been able to automate the production of these reports down to the individual provider level. The tools have been very easy to use and have already helped us gain insight into actual patient access and physician productivity data."
"Since working with Baylor, we have been pleased to participate in innovative projects aimed toward improving healthcare efficiency through advanced data modeling and reporting," says Stephan Brown, president of PDS. "By monitoring and reporting third next available appointment data, Baylor's commitment to improving patient access reaffirms its leadership position in the healthcare quality movement," says Brown.
As consumerism and quality continue to converge, provider awareness of their accessibility to patients will play an important role in re-engineering the U.S. healthcare system.
About PDS
PDS offers a wide array of products and services based on business intelligence, decision support, data warehousing, and reporting for the healthcare industry. PDS clients include academic group practices, health systems, and medical clinics. For additional information, please visit www.pds-online.com/
About Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the only private medical school in the Greater Southwest, was founded in 1900 and is today an internationally respected medical and research institution known for excellence in education, research and patient care.
Source: PDS
CONTACT:
Darren Whitt
PDS
+1-919-847-6343
dwhitt@pds-online.com
Web site: www.pds-online.com/
