An analysis of examination room utilization in United States medical schools

This investigation concerned the use of outpatient examination rooms at U.S. Medical Schools. It compared actual use of outpatient examination rooms for the period July 1, 1992 through June 30, 1993 with an Estimated Maximum Annual Examination Room Visit Capacity (EMAERVC) based on an average outpatient visit including 50 minutes in the examination room. The study also sought answers to questions about the size of examination rooms used, which administrative groups had responsibility for scheduling outpatient visits, and the clinical administration's desire to add additional examination rooms before June 30, 1997.;Questionnaires were sent to the principal practice plan administrator at each of the 126 U.S. medical schools. Sixty-six medical schools responded to the questionnaire and twenty-nine schools provided fully usable data. The list was supplied by the Association of American Medical Schools, a non-profit association of accredited U.S. and Canadian medical schools and teaching hospitals.;The responses to the questionnaires led to the following conclusions: (1) A large number of medical schools do not collect sufficient examination room utilization statistics to adequately assess the use efficiency of their examination room space. (2) The study group used an average of 52.9% of their EMAERVC. The use ranged from 30.6% to 151.9% of their EMAERVC. Study schools typically averaged 4 to 4.5 patient visits per day per examination room. (3) The decision to add examination rooms is apparently not based on an evaluation of current use patterns of existing examination rooms. (4) Few schools reported scheduling examination room visits after-hours or on weekends. (5) The most frequently used examination room size reported was 120 net square feet. (6) The majority of schools indicated that responsibility for patient scheduling was centralized at either the clinic or department level.