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A method for dental care activities time study using observer monitored counting of frequencies.

1993; National Institutes of Health; Volume: 17; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

Y Swedberg, Jessica Malmqvist, T. Johnsson,

Healthcare Operations and Scheduling Optimization

In dentistry, there is a need for better understanding of the distribution of the time spent on different activities at dental clinics. In order to investigate these resource aspects, both for the total time and for various categories of personnel and/or patients in dental clinics at the Public Dental Service (PD), Göteborg, Sweden, a time study method was used. The present study reports on the development of the PD's time study method (TSM) and analyses its functionality. The TSM, based on formulated criteria, used a method for an observer-monitored counting of frequencies. Specially trained observers registered the sampled observations for each professional, using a separate code list for each personnel group to which the professional belonged. The observer registered the on-going activity, not the duration of the procedure. Each observer followed several persons working in separated areas of the dental clinic. In 1989, the TSM was tested with the purpose of obtaining mean time values for dental care activities in the PD clinics performing general dental care. This study comprised all personnel categories in the clinic teams. Clinics were randomly selected and stratified according to the amount of dentistry for children in relation to the total time for dental care, reported as the parameter "dentist hours". Eight out of a total of 36 clinics were randomized, two from each strata.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)