Programs & Services

Access & Redesign

As the American population size approaches 300 million, there exists an extensive patient population that requires health care delivery from a finite population of providers (physicians, dentists, PAs and APRNs).  Faced with an economy that values productivity and stability, medical/dental offices have traditionally relied upon scheduling and booking appointments weeks and sometimes months in advance.  For the patient who needs to be seen immediately by his PCP for an urgent visit, this backlog may result in a trip to the emergency department that is costly for the patient, the hospital and society.  Murray and Tantau’s Open Access model proposes that a patient receive an appointment with his provider when he wants it.  Redesign involves reworking a practice such that every patient’s visit is efficient with minimal wait times during the course of the visit.  When properly implemented, the Open Access and Redesign model (AR) is beneficial to the patient and to the provider.  Although AR is a relatively new concept to community health centers (CHCs), AR is a possible solution to the old problem of health centers struggling to provide proper care to their patients in a timely fashion.

Over the past two decades, the data collected by AR health care teams across the country indicate that the implementation of access and redesign creates significant and numerous beneficial outcomes.

The “Open Access & Redesign:  Implementing Change at your Community Health Center” manual incorporates accepted theories and best practices of AR into a nine step model for AR implementation into a CHC setting.  The manual provides CHCs with an outline of necessary measures and common challenges identified by researchers and by CHCs with previous experience in AR.  It was created with the understanding that members of the CHC community need a concise, comprehensive resource.  It equips CHCs interested in starting AR with data collection tools and references useful for developing goals and establishing strategies necessary for a successful AR project.  The “Open Access & Redesign:  Implementing Change at your Community Health Center” manual and “Nine Steps to Successfully Implementing Access and Redesign” flow chart offer a standardized approach to AR

Manual for Access and Redesign click here

Click here for Power Point on Open Access and Redesign Steps for Community Health Centers

The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice Clinical Microsystems “Coach-the-Coach” seminar.

Please contact Scott Selig for additional information.