Waiting times for consultation after implementation of advanced access - descriptive study in a brazilian primary care team

Introduction/Objective: Advanced Access (AA) can be an ally in the management of waiting times as a strategy to ensure quality and satisfaction in access within the Brazilian reality of oversized health teams. Therefore, we aim to evaluate waiting times for consultation by scheduling same day appointments and previous schedules after the implementation of the AA in the staff. Methods: Descriptive study with 167 patients, between spontaneous demand (SD) or scheduled, at one staff of São José Health Center for 6 days at the end of March 2015. Forms on arrival times, forecasting and beginning of consultation were filled by the team. Waiting times were calculated on GoogleSheets and Microsoft Excel. Results/Conclusions: 164 consultations were analyzed, of which 75% (123) were SD with average arrival time of patients at 07:54h. Of 78.8% (89) who waited in the unit, the average waiting time for service was 1:45h. The average delay between the given forecasting and starting the consultation was 21min. Among the previous scheduled consultations of those days, the 25% (41) of total appointments, the average waiting time from solicitation to consultation was 11 days and maximum of 30 days. After AA deployment there was a reduction in waiting times within the team compared to the previous model. A subjective, but remarkable reduction of anxiety of patients regarding the waiting was perceived by the team. Measures of satisfaction, resolution, quality of access by PCATool would be the next steps to better evaluate the impact of AA on the health team patients.