Improving Patient Wait in the Outpatient Setting Utilizing Talk-to-Text Charting

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this project is to improve patient wait times in the outpatient setting through the development and implementation of an individualized plan to decrease patient waiting times at a family practice clinic in north-central Utah.Background. Waiting to be seen by a medical provider is common in healthcare today, which can lead to patient and staff dissatisfaction. Increased wait times also play a role in healthcare reimbursement by the patient’s perception of wait which impacts how a clinic is reimbursed by insurance. Research shows inefficient processes are one factor contributing to increased patient wait, but studies focusing on the use of a talk-to-text feature when completing patient documentation is lacking. Methods. The Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) Model for Improvement (MFI) including the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle was utilized to guide project development and implementation. The site was approached regarding the potential project and with acceptance the site chose one of their willing healthcare providers to be the sole participant. The participant was provided with education regarding the talk-to-text feature prior to implementation. Four weeks after implementation the participant completed a survey determining satisfaction with the intervention and desire to continue utilizing this documentation option. Results. The result of the sole participant’s survey was analyzed along with provided comments. Conclusions were drawn from the participant’s perception of the talk-to-text intervention. Conclusions. Though inefficient processes can be improved to decrease patient wait time, it is a process to determine the correct intervention for a specific site. From the collected survey after project completion the participant felt this intervention worsened patient wait time but wished to continue to utilize this feature with a different program option. From this project it shows that a talk-to-text feature is attractive to this participant, but the chosen software was not the right fit for this clinic. This is a small project at one clinic with one provider, further PDSA cycles are needed to determine true efficacy of improvement of patient wait time with a talk-to-text documentation option.