At Hilltop Medical Clinic in Surrey, family physicians Drs Manpreet (Micky) Cooner and Arjun Odedra were faced with a familiar challenge— patients facing long wait times for appointments, overbooked schedules, and catching up on charts after clinic hours.
“I’d inherited more than a thousand patients from a retiring doctor,” says Dr Odedra. “Getting people in for acute issues was an ongoing challenge.”
When they started working with a Family Practice Services Committee’s (FPSC) Practice Support Program (PSP) Practice Improvement Coach they began to see tangible change.
The clinic participated in the Advanced Access & Office Efficiency (AAOE) learning series facilitated by their local FPSC quality improvement coach Catherine Torrance and Dr Cooner. The participating physicians and the Hilltop team—including Clinic Manager Melissa Oakford—reimagined how appointments could be booked and how patient demand was balanced with available time and came up with a plan to test and implement changes.
“Before, doctors were booking two or three months out,” says Oakford. “Patients were frustrated and going elsewhere for care.”
“The AAOE learning series included three in-person sessions that helped us analyze our practice and identify issues affecting both physicians and patients,” adds Dr Odedra.
After just three months in the AAOE learning series, the results were dramatic: appointment wait times dropped from three to four weeks to just days. By using patient-panel data to design appointments that better matched community needs, the team achieved shorter visits, quicker follow-ups, and fewer overbooked appointments.
Technology helped, too. By using an AI scribe tool, Drs Cooner and Odedra cut their charting time in half.
“It’s about efficiency, but it’s also about care and connection,” says Dr Cooner. “When patients aren’t frustrated, staff are happier too.”
Dr Baldev Sanghera, FPSC committee member, says the project shows what’s possible when teams have the right support. “The only way to adjust and improve is to have a quality improvement lens that is physician-led. Through the FPSC Practice Support Program we can apply evidence-based strategies that improve care, efficiency, and satisfaction for everyone,” he says.
Watch the full story to see how Hilltop Medical Clinic transformed its approach—and what’s possible for practices across BC.
About the Project:
This project is funded by the Family Practice Services Committee (FPSC) Practice Support Program. FPSC is one of four joint collaborative committees representing a partnership between Doctors of BC and the Government of BC.
If you’re a family physician, find out more about FPSC practice supports or submit a service request.
Partners in this work included the Hilltop Medical Clinic and Surrey-North Delta Division of Family Practice.