Patient Flow Through the Clinic

An average of $120$ patients have appointments at the clinic each day. An additional $30$ patients come for prescription refills each day.

Step $1-$Security$/$Check$-$in

When patients arrive, they all must first pass through security. Often, there is a small wait outside at the door. The average wait time at security is $10$ minutes, while the average processing time is $2$ minutes. The guard at the door double$-$checks the appointment time and issues the patient a colored card with a number on iteither red or yellow. Red cards are reserved for patients without appointments who need only medication refills. These patients must pass through registration but do not need to see a provider.

Step $2-$Registration

All patients then proceed to the waiting room where they wait for their color and number to be called. This wait can often be quite long, but on average takes $24$ minutes.

Once patients are called by a registration clerk, their information is verified. This process can take anywhere from $1$ minute up to $40$ minutes if the patient is new and needs to be enrolled in several programs. On average, eight new patients come per day. The average time to complete registration is $7$ minutes for returning patients and $22$ minutes for new patients, with an overall average registration time of $8$ minutes. Patients seeking medication refills $($with red cards$)$ proceed directly to the pharmacy $($step $6)$ after registration.

Step $3-$Vitals