3.2.1.1. Non-technical consultations. A consultation starts
with making an appointment, usually done by telephone
(1.18 min) or at the office window, which takes 0.50 additional
minutes. A second step consists of receiving patient.
This procedure takes standard 1.95 min for a current
patient. The non-standard transactions will take the following
extra times: 1.75 min for a new patient, 1.92 min for an
emergency treatment of a current patient and 0.17 min for a
new emergency patient. The thirdmain activity is the consultation
in itself, which takes approximately 19.97min.2
The time of a consultation can be extended by 1.02 min, if
the patient needs after his consultation a supplementary
(on the same day) consultation at another department. A
fourth main activity contains the payment of the consultation
at the window (2.57min). The following activities are a summation of activities that might occur. For example,
patientsmight need additional information at the window
(1.18min) or by the phone (1.85 min) about the upcoming
consultation. Typing a letter to the physician (65.02 min) is
also part of the main “after consultation” activity. This letter
contains amedical diagnosis and is unique for each patient.
The specificity of this letter bans the use of standard letters.
The relevant physician hereby dictates the secretary what
to type. Next, the physician controls the letter and if necessarymakes
adaptations so that the secretary can finalize the
letter. A last step of the basic flowmodel is the classification
of the patient files in the archives (2.15 min ).