Evaluation of the CHCF Ambulatory Care Redesign Collaborative

Publication Date: August 2006

Publisher:

Author(s): Lewin Group

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Coverage: California

Abstract:

Providers and patients of safety-net clinics have traditionally assumed that long wait times were an inevitable result of high service demand coupled with limited capacity. However, there is growing evidence that by reconfiguring the ambulatory care process, clinics can predict service demand, improve productivity, and positively transform the patient experience. This report, Evaluation of the Californa HealthCare Foundation's Ambulatory Care Redesign Collaborative, evaluates the effectiveness of a CHCF initiative designed to rethink and redesign clinic processes to achieve dramatic improvements in performance. In particular, efforts focus on improving patient cycle time, provider productivity, and provider and patient satisfaction levels at nine clinic sites affiliated with five public hospital and healthcare systems in California. The report reviews specific findings from several safety-net clinic sites, and overall concludes that in a short period of time redesign efforts resulted in significant improvements across a range of clinic sites. On average, clinics saw a 45 percent decrease in patient wait times, and an increase in provider productivity of 36 percent. According to the analysis, participating clinic staff at all levels demonstrated support for redesign efforts, and encouraged its widespread adoption. However, to ensure future success, it will be important for all stakeholders to place greater emphasis on sustainability planning. The report includes a description of the evaluation methodology, an overview and outcomes of the Ambulatory Care Process Redesign Collaborative, factors influencing sustainability of performance improvements and spread of the redesign model, and recommendations to improve future redesign efforts.