Member Q&A: Defining a North Star Goal for Ambulatory Access - 5/26/2026
OfflineMass General Brigham: We want to define a "North Star" goal for ambulatory access. We can use the NRC data for appointment timeliness, but this does not capture the whole story as it only surveys patients who have actually gotten an appointment. Have you defined a meaningful goal for access that can be measured?
Submitted by:
Rebecca Symmes Lee, MD, MHCM, FACP
Ambulatory Chief Medical Officer
Member Responses
Northeast Georgia Health System
Bobby Norris
Chief Operating Officer
Northeast Georgia physician group uses percent of new patients seen within 14 days. Very curious to hear what others use!
Duke Primary Care
Kevin Shah, MD, MBA
Vice President, Duke University Health System
Chief Medical Officer, Duke Primary Care
Associate Professor of Medicine
Kevin.shah@duke.edu
For primary care we use Third Next Available which we measure via dashboard. We have standardized templates and visit types that allow this to be measured by visit type. For our specialty clinic we typically use a lead time measure, which as noted above is limited based on those who schedule an appointment.
Froedtert ThedaCare – North Region
Monk Elmer Montgomery
Froedtert ThedaCare North Region currently tracks access and scheduling performance through several key metrics:
- 65% of new primary care patients are seen within three days (including urgent care clinics)
- New patient no-show rate: 4.5%
- 51% of primary care patients are seen within three days when urgent care data is excluded
- No-show rate without urgent care data: 5.1%
Approximately 55% of patients are seen by their primary care provider within seven days of hospital discharge. The organization also monitors post-discharge follow-up as an important measure of continuity of care and readmission reduction.
Health Partners
Dan Edelstein
Regional Clinic Director, Primary Care
Dan.A.Edelstein@healthpartners.com
The goal standard would be patient driven access, which is when, where and with who patient wants to be seen. Our organization measures % same day/next day which goals vary by specialty and need, next available and % of new consults that are scheduled within seven days.
0 Conclusions