Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2026

Identifier

DOI: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000900; PMCID: PMC13423377

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Delays in care can lead to poor health outcomes and suboptimal patient and family experiences. We aimed to reduce the average wait time for gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures (procedure request to procedure completion) from 145 to 15 days (a 90% reduction) within 4 months (November 2023 to March 2024).

METHODS: A3 problem-solving methodology was used. The primary intervention was a multiday, multidisciplinary improvement workshop. Outcome measures included (1) procedure request date to procedure completion date, and (2) favorable patient satisfaction score for timeliness of access to care. Process measures included (1) procedure request date to date procedure scheduled by staff, and (2) date procedure scheduled by staff to procedure completion date. The balancing measure was the number of procedures scheduled per weekday. Control charts assessed the impact of interventions.

RESULTS: Following the primary intervention (October 2023), special cause improvement was seen for all but the balancing measure. Outcome measure 1 achieved a sustained reduction in mean monthly wait time from 145 to 26.4 days (an 82% reduction), whereas outcome measure 2 achieved sustained improvement in patient satisfaction from 39.7% to 50.2% (a 26.4% relative improvement). Process measures 1 and 2 had sustained reductions from 56.5 to 14.7 days (a 74% reduction) and 89.1 to 20.7 days (a 77% reduction), respectively. The balancing measure also remained unchanged at a monthly average of 11.7 procedures scheduled per weekday.

CONCLUSIONS: Using A3 problem-solving methodology, we achieved an 82% sustained reduction in endoscopic procedure wait times with a concurrent 26.4% improvement in patient satisfaction. Procedures are now routinely completed within 1 month of the request date.

Journal Title

Pediatr Qual Saf

Volume

11

Issue

4

First Page

900

Last Page

900

PubMed ID

42535070

Comments

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Publisher's Link: https://www.ovid.com/jnls/pqs/fulltext/10.1097/pq9.0000000000000900~quality-improvement-project-to-reduce-wait-time-for

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