GP practices could be missing out on thousands of appointments each year due to overlooked data points, according to insights shared at the recent Best Practice Show in Birmingham
During a presentation "Reveal the Untapped Data: Five Data Points Your Practice is Missing - Costing You Thousands of Appointments Every Year", healthcare communications expert Max Pardo-Roques highlighted five crucial areas where practices are missing valuable data.
Using a sample practice, these were shown to be:
1. First Contact Resolution Research shows at least 17% of patient encounters aren't resolved in the first instance, with significant variation between team members. A 30% improvement in this area could save nearly 300 hours of care navigator time, equivalent to approximately £7,000 in salaries alone.
2. Signposting Variation Staff members show considerable differences in their ability to signpost patients effectively. Just a 5% increase in correct signposting away from GPs could save thousands of appointments annually.
3. Pre-consultation Information Quality Around 40% of consultations lack good pre-consultation information. A one-minute overrun for these patients adds 103 hours of consultation time - equivalent to more than 1,500 ten-minute appointments per year.
4. Failure Demand On average, practices bring back 10% of patients due to ineffective processes. This 'failure demand' creates unnecessary appointments and strains practice resources.
5. Follow-up Appointment Patterns Up to 40% of appointments require another follow-up appointment. Reducing this by just 5% could create significant capacity within practices.
Mr Pardo-Roques said: "These hidden data points represent thousands of potentially avoidable appointments each year. Each inappropriate or avoidable appointment affects both patients and staff, ultimately costing practices thousands of pounds annually."
For those who missed the presentation or would like to learn more, the full talk is available to watch here.
Or, to view the slides, download this link:
The Demand and Capacity Optimisation Tool helps practices uncover and address these hidden data points, enabling more efficient practice management and improved patient care.
For more details about how the tool works, in practice, visit https://www.demandandcapacity.com/how-it-works
To request a demo or to find out more about the tool, email Kiran.Virdee@Develop-Consulting.co.uk
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