IIM IIT study helps doctors manage time efficiently

AHMEDABAD: The ever increasing load of patient care is putting severe constraints on doctors’ time for teaching and research. Professors from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) have carried out a study to help doctors in a teaching hospital manage their time better.

The study – Planning the Activities of Doctors in a Teaching Hospital by IIM-A professors Debjit Roy and K V Ramani, and IIT-B professor Sahil Narang has drawn out alternate timetables for doctors to help them perform a variety of teaching, research, seminar, and in-patient care activities in addition to managing outpatient volumes.

The study proposes alternate plans for doctors’ activities without compromising on their involvement in other activities and maintaining the same quality of patient service. “The period of stay of outpatients as well as doctors’ hospital hours are reduced substantially, mutually benefiting both the hospital and the patients,” said the study.

For example, the timetable suggests that if the patient load is up to 400 per day and the consultation time is between 15 and 20 minutes, then two full OPD days per week would be the best. Two full days OPD cycle is also preferable if the patient load increases to 500 per day. The problem arises only if the patient load is increased to 500 per day and the consultation time is also increased, then the four half-day OPD schedule would be best.

The focus of the study is to develop a plan to manage the growth in OPD patient volumes. [Source]

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