Demand, capacity, and access of the outpatient clinic: A framework for analysis and improvement.

Rationale: While theoretical frameworks for optimization of the outpatient processes are abundant, practical step-by-step analyses to give leads for improvement, to forecast capacity, and to support decision making are sparse.

Aims And Objectives: This article demonstrates how to evaluate and optimize the triad of demand, (future) capacity, and access time of the outpatient clinic using a structured six-step method.

Methods: All individual logistical patient data of an orthopaedic outpatient clinic of one complete year were analysed using a 6-step method to evaluate demand, supply, and access time.