He was a hard headed man....

“Life in the Fast Lane,
Surely make you lose your mind“

The Collins Street Medical Centre has developed a strategy that has been effective in changing their capacity to match their demand. Fiona Broderick has generously presented on their ‘Swift Solutions Clinic’ at a number of APCC workshops.

Why block up a 15 minute slot if all that is needed is a brief appointment for a script, a certificate, a referral or a normal result? A number of practices have told us about variations on this idea that have worked for them.

Dr Boyapati’s practice restricted the clinic to prescriptions…

“We allocate 1 hour a week to “script only” time. Patients now know that if all they need is a repeat script they can book in at that time with next to no wait but it can ONLY be for a script. So far it has worked extremely well. Patients are happier that they don’t wait for “just a script”

At Campaspe Family Practice they deal with a wider range of problems but there are still strict guidelines…

“Our most successful innovation to date (shamelessly stolen from the Collins St Medical Centre at a collaborative workshop) is the introduction of the Swift Clinic set up daily for each doctor for approximately one and a half hours. Each appointment time is 5 minutes instead of 15. Patients are triaged at reception and educated about the clinic. A nurse sees the patient first and checks blood pressure etc…or arranges what is necessary for the patient..

The clinics are suitable for : repeat scripts, blood pressure checks, minor paper work (signature), sickness certificates (for a patient who has been treated by the practice already), results (if advised by the doctor to book swift) etc….We set them up after lunch or first thing in the morning to prevent a late start and consultations are usually bulk billed. Patients are very happy as are the doctors and reception staff.”

At Bribie Medical Centre they have specific clinics for individual problems…

“For one of our doctors, we have initiated script and referral clinics (for ongoing referrals and repeat scripts for patients seen within a 3 month period), BP clinics (previously patients were using the chemist for short BP checks but now we see them at the practice), and BSL Clinics.  We have put these clinics in place to help the waiting time for patients with appointments and to stop the interruptions for these types of visits.  .

The script clinics are 8.30 – 9.00 two days per week and 5.00 – 5.30 two days per week Tuesday through to Friday.  The BP and BSL clinics are also 2 days per week Tues and Thurs. The clinics usually see about 10 people per session.  The clinics have proven popular with the patients and other doctors have now started to follow.”

Quick clinics seem to be popular with patients and practices.   Your comments are welcome on this idea for improving practice efficiency