Implementation of an Advanced Access Scheduling System in Primary Healthcare: One Clinic's Experience

Advanced access scheduling is a system designed to allow patients to be seen same day or next day or in the future according to their preference. The scheduling system has been associated with patients being seen earlier in the course of illness and patients being hospitalized less often. The advanced access system focuses on timely access to primary healthcare, ideally within 48 hours. A group of Ontario primary healthcare nurse practitioners recently implemented the system at a newly established nurse practitioner-led clinic. The team's experiences with the implementation of the advanced access scheduling system are reviewed. The team's experiences are then compared and contrasted with what has been published on the scheduling system to date. The article approaches the subject matter from the perspectives of primary healthcare providers, clerical staff and administrators. Advanced access has become a timely subject in primary care, given the chronic shortages of service and funding constraints and the need for enhanced effectiveness.