Patient access: Symposium addresses what's working, what's not and ways to improve

A common goal — making it easier for patients everywhere to get access to health care — brought 140 people to Mayo Clinic from academic centers across the country.

Their challenge: Find ways to meet patient expectations while getting the necessary information so that patients can see the right providers at the right time.

At the sixth annual Patient Access Symposium held this year at Mayo Clinic, representatives from Mayo, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and about 60 other large academic medical centers gathered to discuss how to overcome this challenge and more.

"Many patients expect scheduling an appointment to resemble reserving a hotel room," says Brian Crum, M.D., medical director of the Mayo Clinic Office of Access Management. "But scheduling a medical appointment is considerably more complicated, it often involves scheduling multiple tests, consults and procedures in a specific order in a tight timeframe."

Colleen Storrlie, Clinic Operations, described the symposium's approach as akin to a medical conference. "Our scientists and physicians often work with colleagues across the world to solve medical problems," she says. "This is essentially the same thing. We all want to provide a better experience for patients, referring providers and staff. Learning from each other helps us do that."

Elizabeth Woodcock, symposium organizer, says it was a desire from organizations to collaborate and discuss that inspired her to launch the event a number of years ago. "I was writing a book, and I had the individuals I interviewed [...]"