Papanicolaou Smear Waiting Times at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital.
Abstract
From July to December 1994, the average waiting time or a Papanicolaou (Pap) smear at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital was greater than 50 days. Satisfaction surveys and patient complaints revealed that beneficiaries found this waiting time to be unacceptable. A team was formed to solve the problem of excessive waiting time for Pap smears. The team's solution was to increase the number and types of providers performing Pap smears and to stage 'catch-up', days on which designated providers would perform Pap smears for a significant portion of the day. Samples of 200 waiting periods were drawn from all patients seeking Pap smears during the six months before and from all patients seeking Pap smears during the six months after implementation of the solution. The effects were to reduce Pap smear waiting time to approximately nine days and to eliminate complaints about Pap smear waiting time. Results of this study may be generalized to other military hospitals for assessment of excessive waiting times for similar patient care services which are not equipment-intensive. Recommendations from this study are that the hospital administration consider scheduling Pap smears during each beneficiary's birthmonth and to establish a method of evaluation and monitoring of the entire Pap smear program, possibly as part of a Women's Health Program initiative.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA324228
Entities
People
- Richard Meaney
Organizations
- Academy of Health Sciences