The local urgent care clinic employs two physicians and a physician’s assistant who treat patients. On average, each patient requires about 15 minutes per visit. The clinic is open for 8 hours per day and closed on weekends. The average revenue per patient is $55. Supplies per patient visit are about $2. The clinic operates at full capacity on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, and about 10 patients per day leave when they see the long wait lines. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, wait times are short. The clinic tracks its wait time, which has been increasing over the last six months. Because of customer dissatisfaction with the wait times, the clinic is considering a change. The physicians would like to hire a nurse practitioner to treat patients that appear to have simple medical problems such as colds or flu. The nurse practitioner would be hired to work part time on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. The cost of the nurse is $65 per hour including benefits.

REQUIRED

A. Draw a strategy map showing possible cause-and-effect relationships between improvements in wait time and the internal process, customer, and financial perspectives.

B. Calculate the breakeven point in number of patient visits per day (on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays) for hiring a nurse practitioner.

C. List at least three business risks that could be considered as part of the decision-making process.

D. What is your recommendation to the physicians about hiring a nurse practitioner? Explain.