Techniques that have been described were successfully applied to a study of private pediatric offices. Results obtained in the private office were compared with those from the hospital clinic. In each setting, we studied patient flow: time spent by each patient in waiting or receiving service, and personnel work patterns: time spent by each employee in performing various tasks or in idle time.
In this comparison, patients in the private office had a shorter service time and much less waiting time than clinic patients. Personnel of the private office spent a higher percentage of time on assigned tasks and had considerably less idle time than those working in the clinics.