Bothell clinic hands out badges to cut wait times
Published 9:46 pm Sunday, April 4, 2010
Few things bother patients more than waiting.
Waiting for an appointment. Waiting, once you arrive at the clinic, in the waiting room. And waiting in the exam room to be seen by the doctor.
At Pacific Medical Center’s newest offices, which open Monday in Canyon Park, the clinic is trying to break the cycle of waiting, said Dr. Brett Daniel, medical director.
Patients will be able to get same-day appointments, he said.
And as they walk in, patients will be asked to slip on a small electronic badge, about the size of a 50-cent piece, that will track how long they’ve been waiting from the time they walk in the door until they leave.
Canyon Park is the first of Pacific Medical Center’s medical office in Snohomish and King counties to get the new monitoring system, Daniel said.
It’s just one feature of the organization’s new $8 million, 30,000-square-foot medical office at 1909 214th St. SE in Bothell.
“When you check in, they’ll scan the badge under a scanner,” Daniel said. “From that moment on, we track all points of contact.”
A computerized display provides readouts showing which step the patient is in the appointment process – the room the patient is in, when a medical assistant or doctor enters the room, and, if needed, when lab tests and X-rays are being conducted.
When the appointment is finished, the badge is dropped into a box that erases the information, Daniel said.
The badge will send out a signal if a patient has been waiting at any time during the appointment more than 15 minutes, said Linda Eremic, director of clinic operations. And if the patient has been waiting longer than 30 minutes, it will alert a supervisor.
If special equipment is needed, such as a machine to monitor heart rhythms, the system will tell employees exactly where to find it, since diagnostic equipment is frequently shifted from room to room.
The office has 39 exam rooms, and a variety of diagnostic equipment, including MRI and CT scanners, ultrasound, mammography and a machine for bone density testing.
Its staff include primary and pediatric physicians as well as a variety of specialists, including dermatology, rheumatology, cardiology, neurology, podiatry, sports medicine, physical therapy and eye care services.
It has one of the most comprehensive list of services available in the organization’s clinics, Daniel said, with diagnostic equipment and medical specialists on-site.
The clinic offers longer weekday hours and is open for four hours on Saturday to try to be help working families get appointments, Eremic said.
Initially, it will be able to schedule about 150 appointments a day. In three to five years, they expect to be able to serve about 450 patients a day, Daniel said.
“We felt this was a medically underserved area,” he said. Many people living in the area have to travel either south to downtown Seattle or further into Snohomish County for services, he said.
The offices will allow patients to get many services under one roof, Daniel said. “We can do a lot of things they need closer to home.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, Salyer@heraldnet.com.
By the numbers
At Pacific Medical Center Canyon Park:
$8 million: estimated overall cost
30,000 square feet
39 exam rooms
2 procedure rooms
6 rooms for eye care
5 physical therapy areas
4 infusion beds for chemotherapy treatment
150 patients treated each day
Open house
5:30-7:30 p.m. May 13
1909 214th St. SE, Suite 300
Suite 300
Bothell
