Reducing Waiting-time of Preterm Babies at a Retinopathy of Prematurity Clinic: A Quality Improvement Project.

Objective: To decrease the waiting time for preterm babies visiting the Retinopathy of prematurity clinic in a tertiary eye hospital.

Design: Interventional study.

Setting: Tertiary eye care hospital.

Patients: All preterm babies reporting for screening and follow up at Retinopathy of prematurity clinic.

Intervention/procedure: A quality improvement team comprising of a faculty (team leader), two senior residents, two junior residents, one nursing officer, and a registration staff was constituted. Fish bone analysis was done to understand various reasons for the high waiting time for preterm babies. Baseline data was collected followed by multiple Plan-Do-Study- Act (PDSA) cycles.

Main Outcome Measure: Average waiting-time, maximum waiting-time, and last baby entry-time were measured.

Results: The median average waiting-time, maximum waiting-time and last baby entry-time at baseline were 90.5 min (range 74.1 to 118.8 min), 177.5 min (range 160 to 190 min) and 111 min (90 to 118 min), respectively. At the end of 3rd PDSA cycle, these reduced to 77.6 min (range 55.2 to 94.3 min), 122 min (range 110 to 135 min), and 60 min (range 45 to 80 min), respectively and were sustained; the decrease from baseline being 14.3%, 31.2%, and 46%, respectively.

Conclusion: The time spent in the waiting area at the Retinopathy of Prematurity clinic was significantly reduced by simple changes in the process flow.