Effective patient scheduling.

Patient appointments and scheduling of patients and physicians are the first step in any health-care delivery system. This paper deals with the conventional method usually found in preprinted appointment books, and the "wave" method. A method of testing this system is any practice environment is described, together with the comparative benefits of the wave method over the conventional method of scheduling. This paper also exemplifies one kind of research that can be accomplished in the private, ambulatory sector of medicine.