Open Access Scheduling

Decrease waiting times and delays in the pediatric office

Home    |  FAQs   |   Getting Started  |   Key Measures   |   Resources   |   Education

Open access, sometimes called "advanced access" or "same-day scheduling," allows pediatric practices to not only provide timelier healthcare, but also more patient-centered and efficient care for children. Open access involves redesigning scheduling systems to allow practices to offer same day appointments to all patients, regardless of the nature of their problems, whether routine or urgent. Although many pediatric practices allow same-day appointments for acute care visits, open access expends same-day access to include routine and preventive care as well. The guiding principle is, "do today's work today."

This seemingly impossible feat is accomplished by gradually eliminating the preexisting backlog of patients from practice schedules and carefully matching the daily supply of clinicians to the daily demand for visits. The underlying theory is that demand is predictable. Thus, practices can match their appointment supply to demand on an ongoing basis.

To date, open access has been implemented successfully in thousands of practices across the US, including private, public, and academic pediatric practices. The experience of these practices as well as a growing number of research studies suggest that open access can improve continuity of care, increase both patient and staff satisfaction, decrease appointment no-shows, and improve practice financial viability. Open access can help you build a solid medical home for your patients - it will make your practice more accessible for your patients thereby reducing the likelihood they will turn to urgent care centers, emergency rooms, and/or retail based clinics for care that could be provided in their medical home.

If you need help with open access, or if you have any additional questions, we can help you. Contact Junelle Speller for more information or to provide feedback at jspeller@aap.org or 847/434-7650.

FAQs