Visual scheduling to improve workflow and throughput in the University of Virginia Health System Pediatric Specialty Clinic

A systems analysis of the University of Virginia Health System Pediatric Specialty Clinic concluded that decentralized and poorly coordinated appointment scheduling across multiple specialties in the Clinic results in inefficient use of Clinic resources and unnecessary delays for patients. A visual scheduling tool that displays appointments scheduled across all specialties would help schedulers understand how their scheduling decisions affect overall Clinic loading and could benefit total workflow and throughput of the Clinic. The goal of this project is to design a visual aid that combines the appointment schedules of each Clinic physician to give the schedulers a holistic view of the Clinic and knowledge of the demand on the overall Clinic resources. Human factors design principles guided the team in developing the most effective visual scheduling tool. This tool, along with mutually agreed upon scheduling guidelines, can help the Clinic improve resource utilization and the patient experience.