Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic Saves $325,000 Annually

Company profile:
Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic is an orthopaedic treatment center for the entire family from pediatric to geriatic care. They have two facilities, one in Raleigh and the other in Garner, with a total of 18 physicians and staff.

Situation:
Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic was struggling to keep up with daily workload to serve their patients and needed better ways to more efficiently utilize their facilities, equipment, and staff. For example, records existed in two locations in Raleigh needed consolidation to the Garner location to increase efficiency. Also, there was a switchboard in Garner for incoming calls and two operators were directing calls from that facility. Additionally, there were four people on the appointments staff located in Garner, helping patients by scheduling appointments. Appointment staff also gets the necessary information from patients when making appointments. There is triage center in Raleigh staffed by three nurses that work on a rotating shift. Nurses at triage get calls from doctors as well as from patients. In summary, Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic needed facility re-layout for records consolidation, rapid response to patients, in-sourcing of additional work, and improved communication systems.

Assistance Project:
To provide solutions, IES arranged a project in which NCSU engineering students Randy Frank and Tyanna Thomas worked under the direction and guidance of Cindy Hodges, IES systems specialist, and Dr. Joe Davis, IES specialist for industrial engineering and ergonomics. The project involved on-site engineering analysis including the following. Existing System Analysis Records existed in two Raleigh locations needed consolidation to Garner location to increase efficiency. System calls the patients to remind them of their appointment for the next day, but still had a high rate of no-shows. Call rates for the appointments drop during the lunch hours, but staff still works which caused inefficient idle time. Workman's compensation was handled by appointment staff, so there was opportunity for improvement. New/Optimized Analysis Facility layout completed to consolidate records from Raleigh to Garner location and thereby increase efficiency. System calls the patients two days prior to their appointment to increase the chance to eliminate no-shows, 20 patients/day/doctor, by patients calling back. Answering system may handle the appointment calls during lunch hour, and weekly template documents can be eliminated due to less paperwork. One person can be assigned for workman's compensation among appointment staff. Part-time person can be hired for peak times, Monday and Fridays. Switchboard can be handled by one operator unless there is high call volume. Other operator can be cross trained for appointments and switchboard. Training the first line personnel, switchboard and appointment staff, will reduce the entire workload dramatically.

Results:
All engineering analysis (as described above) was successfully completed on schedule. The project produced an achievable economic benefit of approximately $325,000 (recurring annually) by implementing new scheduling system, improvements in workflow efficiency, and increase in productivity.

Testimonial
"We are pleased that there is a resource like NCSU's Industrial Extension Service in the community. They were very helpful in reviewing, identifying and providing practical solutions that will improve our workflow and how we handle our phone communication requirements. The cost to benefit ratio will exceed the goals that we established. The individuals that work on our account were very professional and were well received by the staff. We look forward to identifying future opportunities that will allow us to take advantage of the of the services of the NCSU's Industrial Extension Service”
    Karl Stein,
    Executive Director
    Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic
    March 8, 2004



March 2004