Investigating Open-access Booking in New Brunswick Occupational Therapy. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Speed, David; Fyffe, Shelley
• Is Part Of: Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Volume 87:Number 5(2020)
• Page Start: 382
• Page End: 389
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Health services accessibility* -- Organizational* -- Patient discharge* -- Rapid discharge -- Waiting lists*; Accessibilité des services de santé* -- Organisation des services* -- Congé* -- Congé rapide -- Listes d'attente*; Occupational therapy -- Canada -- Periodicals; Physical therapy -- Canada -- Periodicals; Therapeutics, Physiological -- Canada -- Periodicals; 615.8515
• DOI: 10.1177/0008417420968683
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-4174

Abstract

Background: Open-access booking (OAB) describes administrative changes to improve system efficiency. However, OAB studies have focused on GP practices and have not applied OAB to other health care services. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the associations between OAB and administrative outcomes in the Saint John region. Method: Evaluators compared three years of pre-OAB data against two years of post-OAB data using an interrupted-time series design (February 2014–January 2019). Findings: OAB was associated with a 12% jump in the likelihood of being discharged within three months even though clients received an equivalent level of service. OAB was not associated with more missed appointments (∼8% vs. ∼7%). While OAB was not associated with reduced wait times, the post-OAB period handled a larger number of client referrals, which may explain the null finding. Implications: OAB shows potential for improving administrative outcomes, but further research is needed.