Carlton Maples caught the flu and needed to see the doctor. Maples called to set up an appointment and was told to come in at 1:00 P.M. Maples arrived at the doctor’s office promptly at 1:00 P.M. The waiting room had 8 other people in it. Patients were admitted from the waiting room in FIFO (first-in, first-out) order at a rate of 5 minutes per patient. After waiting until his turn, a nurse finally invited Maples to an examining room. Once in the examining room, Maples waited another 15 minutes before a nurse arrived to take some basic readings (temperature, blood pressure). The nurse needed 10 minutes to collect the clinical information. After the nurse left, Maples waited 15 additional minutes before the doctor arrived. The doctor arrived and diagnosed the flu and provided a prescription for antibiotics. This took the doctor 10 minutes. Before leaving the doctor’s office, Maples waited 10 minutes at the business office to pay for the office visit.
Maples spent 5 minutes walking next door to fill the prescription at the pharmacy. There were five people in front of Maples, each person requiring 5 minutes to fill and purchase
a prescription. Maples finally arrived home 15 minutes after paying for his prescription.
a. What time does Maples arrive home?
b. How much of the total elapsed time from 1:00 P.M. until when Maples arrived home was non-value-added time?
c. What is the value-added ratio?
d. Why does the doctor require patients to wait so long for service?