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Dp034 | Reducing Outpatient Waiting Times With a Proactive Scheduling Filter for Non-urgent Hematology Visits: a Three-year Experience (2022–2024)

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In the field of hematology, outpatient clinical activities primarily aim to provide clinical and diagnostic evaluations for patients presenting with abnormalities in blood counts and laboratory parameters. On the initiative of the outpatient hematology specialists at the AUSL-IRCCS of Reggio Emilia, even before the COVID-19 pandemic and the more recent establishment of teleconsultation services such as the specialist on-call, proactive measures were introduced to reduce waiting lists and improve the appropriateness of referrals, while simultaneously accelerating diagnostic workflows and enabling early management of complex cases. The areas of application include common hematological abnormalities encountered in daily practice, such as monoclonal gammopathy, anemia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, leukocytosis, lymphocytosis, polycythemia, thrombocytosis, and hyperferritinemia. Starting in September 2019, a dedicated data extraction report was implemented to facilitate the identification of diagnostic queries that could benefit from remote interaction between the hematology specialist and the referring physician. When deemed appropriate, scheduled appointments were cancelled and the patients informed.Systematic data collection regarding the number of intercepted and cancelled referrals has been available since January 1, 2022. Between 2022 and 2024, a total of 800 non-essential visits were proactively cancelled. Communication with the referring physicians (95% general practitioners, 5% territorial specialists) resulted in recommendations for additional diagnostic testing, non-specialist therapeutic interventions, or redirection to other hematology-related services (Transfusion Medicine, Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center). This effort led to an overall reduction in the outpatient waiting list equivalent to 29 weeks over the three-year period, consistently maintaining waiting times within the optimal range of 45–60 days. The saving of 265 outpatient hours (approximately 1.5 hours per week) was reinvested in strengthening triage and teleconsultation activities or redirected to other internal outpatient services within the Hematology Department.
Authors: P. Alfieri, T. Lazic, S. Medici, E. Rivolti, F. Merli.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7093121744
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