The Sugar Land Walk-In Orthopedic Injury Clinic

PROJECT SUMMARY

This business plan is for a walk-in orthopedic injury clinic to help expand the orthopedic surgery service line for a hospital owned physicians practice in Sugar Land, Texas. This practice is the Sugar Land Orthopedic Group and currently has a total of 24 providers, consisting of 12 orthopedic surgeons, 3 primary care sports medicine physicians, 9 physician assistants, and 1 nurse practitioner. The clinic volume is between 250 and 300 patients a day depending on how many providers are in clinic. Unfortunately, the practice is having a difficult time getting patients in to see their providers. 

On average, it takes patients a little over a week to be seen by one of the providers depending on the body part that the patient needs to have evaluated. The patient population in Sugar Land, Texas is somewhat more affluent than other suburbs within the city of Houston, which means that these patients have high expectations. Patients expect to be able to get in to see one of the providers within a day or two and currently, that is not possible. Since patients are not able to get in to be seen in an efficient manner, they give the practice low scores in the Access to Care section of the Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG-CAHPS) Survey. (Download to view tables)

The practice has tried opening same day appointment slots on all of the providers’ schedules, but that still has not solved the problem. The wait times for an appointment were still long and it was still difficult to get to see one of the providers. The physicians and practice leadership are hoping that this walk-in orthopedic injury clinic will be the answer to the Access to Care problems, which is the ultimate goal.