| Author(s) | Omar Ben-Ayed and Basil AI-Abbasi* |
| Affiliation | Professor, Department of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh *Head, Planning and Development Department, Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh |
| Title | A Study of the Utilization of Outpatient Department in a Saudi General Public Hospital |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Administrative Sciences. Volume 14, No 2. (2002/1422) |
| Abstract | Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital (RAFH), one of the largest in S ~ i ~bia, has to cope with an increasing number of patients in a country where the resources are no longer abundant as they used to be. The nearest available appointment for most specialties in Outpatient Departmen (OPD) exceeds thirty weeks and even one year in some of them. It is commonly believed that expansion is not only indispensa,ble but also overdue. This paper, which is concerned with the study of the "overload problem" of outpatient department, came to the interesting conclusion that the capacity is indeed significantly under"utilized. An average of about 30% of the time allocated to clinics is being wasted by doctors arriving late and/or checking out early. Further inquiry revealed that the appointment system is actually booking "too few" patients to keep the doctors busy. |
