1. Scheduling Process
Improvement Project
Lead authors:
Jessica Vasquez

2. 1
SWOT ANALYSIS of SCHEDULING PROCESS
Standards
Strengths: Office staff willing to cooperate with Memorial
Weakness:
• Incomplete or incorrect info obtained & passed along creating re-work &
process complexities.
• Confusion due to two different slips amongst Mercy Hospitals & Memorial
• Outdated slip
Opportunities:
• Standardization of slips regionally
• Update slips
• Electronic slip to improve efficiency & reduce handwriting errors
• BMH Surgery department email for improved communication

3. 2
SWOT ANALYSIS of SCHEDULING PROCESS
Standards
Opportunities:
• Glossary & guide to assist in process improvement
Threats:
• Change process takes time to adapt to
• Electronic version may not be compatible at all offices

4. OBJECTIVE
3
The purpose of this project is to
improve efficiency and standardize the
scheduling process by reducing errors
and reducing the rate of incomplete
information that affects the
registration, prep, and pre-op phases
causing delays of surgical cases.

5. 4
Overview of current state problems
CURRENT STATES

6. 5
Current State: SCHEDULING
Standards
 Incomplete packets with errors such as names which do not match
legal identification cards are received from Doctor’s offices.
 Doctor’s vague procedures written such as “Lap,” which can mean
multiple things, i.e. laparotomy or laparoscopic?
 Doctor’s offices have high staff turnover, Anna is having to re-train
new staff how to correctly schedule a surgery; re-work
Total of 13 steps

7. 6
Current State: REGISTRATION
Standards
 Unknown add-ons.
 50% of the time there are incomplete documents received from Scheduling.
 Registration sometimes cannot reach the patient due to phone number out of service
or no answer
 Must contact Surgeon offices to obtain information that should have been obtained
during scheduling; re-work.
 Insurance not being authorized due to Surgeons not calling within the required time
frame of 3-5 days prior to surgery.
• Drives Cancellations
• Drives Re-schedules
Total of 5 steps

8. 7
Current State: PREP
Standards
 80% of documents received from Registration are incomplete
or contain errors.
 50% of the time there are incomplete documents received from Scheduling.
 Must contact Surgeon offices to obtain information that should have been obtained during
scheduling; re-work.
 Insurance not being authorized due to Surgeons not calling within the required time frame of 3-5
days prior to surgery.
– Drives Cancellations
– Drives Re-schedules
Total of 5 steps

9. Function Wide Total Steps
8
Current State Total Steps
Scheduling- 13 Steps
Registration- 5 Steps
Prep- 12 Steps
Ops- 16 Steps
Holding/Pre-Ops- 13 Steps
Total Steps 59 Total Steps
Future State Total Steps
Scheduling- 7 Steps
Registration- 3 Steps
Prep- 11 Steps
Ops/ Pre-Op Holding- 13 Steps
Total Steps 34 Steps
We reduced the number of steps by 57%

10. 9
Overview of new processes
Future State

11. New Processes
10
Updated scheduling slip
Electronic fillable slip
BMH Surgery Department email
Glossary & Guide

12. 11

13. 12

14. 13

15. 14
MEMORIAL EMAIL ADDRESS
BMHSurgery@DignityHealth.org

16. 15
THANK YOU!