Redistribution of Doctors and Decentralization of Clinics Improved Utilization of Services, Demand, and Capacity of Hamad Medical Corporation's Staff Clinic.

backgroundThe Staff Medical Clinic (SMC) of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) serves the staff members who require healthcare services, but in a crowded environment, the SMC can only meet 75% of that demand. Overcrowding reduces productivity and service quality and increases waiting time. Furthermore, overcrowding in healthcare facilities decreases the experience and satisfaction of patients and healthcare providers.

aimThe main objective of this study was to use simulation modeling to evaluate interventions that could improve SMC waiting time and efficiency.

methodEighteen months of data on SMC patient flow, staffing, and clinical sessions were collected (January 2018 to June 2019). The patient's journey through the SMC was modeled as a series of processes with assigned durations defined mathematically using the appropriate probability distribution. A simulation flow model was developed considering the locations of the staff and nearby main hospital facilities. An intervention was proposed and evaluated through a simulation. The intervention involved redistributing 25% of the SMC staff into three main satellite clinics located at the facilities where most of the SMC patients came.  Results: The proposed intervention decreased crowding by 37%, reduced staffing requirements by 28%, and increased the number of patient slots by 22%, resulting in a net increase in the number of patients served by an average of 1250 monthly, without the need for hiring new additional staffing.

conclusionRedistribution of the available medical staff to three new satellite clinics reduces workload pressure at all sites and increases clinic capacity without additional costs.