Advanced Access

Blue Cross of California

Scheduling an appointment with a primary care doctor has become increasing difficult: Office staff must try to squeeze in new appointments daily, while follow-ups and urgent care appointments already fill available appointments. Scheduling challenges are so common that they can overwhelm the day-to-day operations of a physician group. To help alleviate this burden, Blue Shield of California, in partnership with the California Association of Physician Groups and another California health insurer launched a clinical scheduling pilot program with eight physician groups across the state using Advanced Access.

Program Elements

• Advanced Access is a well-documented method of patient appointment scheduling, based on the principle that primary care physicians see patients when they are scheduled that day.
  
  
• The program utilizes a number of tools and techniques. Before implement­ing the method, the physician's office identifies times when patient demand is typically high (flu season, for example) or when doctor availability is going to be low.
  
  
• Decisions are made about how to handle these situations without schedul­ing appointments further into the future. Telephone consultations or visits with a nurse practitioner are common examples of alternatives, used when appropriate.
  
  
• Once any backlog of appointments is cleared, the physician's office begins the new system: Routine follow-up appointments are scheduled in advance, leaving the remainder of the physician's day open to see patients on the same day they contact the office for care.
  
  
• In this model, patients feel they can see their doctors when needed, reduc­ing concerns about timely access.

Program Results

• Patient wait time is dramatically reduced and patients report a higher level of satisfaction with access to their doctors.
  
  
• Physicians benefit from a more controlled and planned workday in which anticipated patient demand dictates their schedule.

Contact

Dina O'Reilly, Project Manager, 415-229-5538, dina.oreilly@blueshieldca.com