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Assess Demand for Appointments
Time to Complete: 1 to 2 weeks
Difficulty: Moderate; requires staff cooperation
Outcome: Knowledge of ideal patient/physician panel size
Steps
Gather information
Have scheduling staff track appointment requests each day for one week. Include return and follow-up appointments. Use the Same-Day Appointment Spreadsheet for tracking (Excel file; About Downloading Files).
Analyze data
- Calculate the average number of appointment requests per day.
- Assess number of appointments each physician can deliver per day.
- Evaluate physician panel size. Use FPM's Patient Panel Worksheet (Excel file; About Downloading Files) to capture the data you need to define your ideal panel size.
Make decisions
Adjust physician panel size as needed.
What You Will Need
- Staff collaboration to gather information
- Tracking tools (see tool section)
Tool
The following tools can:
- help your staff track demand for appointments: Same-Day Appointment Spreadsheet (Excel file; About Downloading Files).
- help you analyze your ideal panel size: Patient Panel Size Worksheet from FPM (Excel file; About Downloading Files).
Where to Go for Help
- Read the following FPM articles for more information on the ideal panel size: "How Many Patients Can One Doctor Manage?" and "Panel Size: Answers to Physicians' Frequently Asked Questions."
Join a free collaborative online network committed to practice transformation. Learn more about Delta-Exchange.
This Patient-Centered Medical Home section of the AAFP web site was supported in part by a grant from Merck & Co.
This Patient-Centered Medical Home section of the AAFP web site was supported in part by a grant from Merck & Co.
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