Background.: Open-access booking (OAB) describes administrative changes to improve system efficiency. However, OAB studies have focused on GP practices and have not applied OAB to other health care services.
Purpose.: The purpose of the study was to investigate the associations between OAB and administrative outcomes in the Saint John region.
Method.: Evaluators compared three years of pre-OAB data against two years of post-OAB data using an interrupted-time series design (February 2014-January 2019).
Findings.: OAB was associated with a 12% jump in the likelihood of being discharged within three months even though clients received an equivalent level of service. OAB was not associated with more missed appointments (∼8% vs. ∼7%). While OAB was not associated with reduced wait times, the post-OAB period handled a larger number of client referrals, which may explain the null finding.
Implications.: OAB shows potential for improving administrative outcomes, but further research is needed.
Keywords: Accessibilité des services de santé*; Congé rapide; Congé*; Health services accessibility*; Listes d’attente*; Organisation des services*; Organizational*; Patient discharge*; Rapid discharge; Waiting lists*.