Implementing Queue Management in Hospitals : A Guide

Queue Management in Hospitals
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Gone are the days, when healthcare was a luxury. In the current scenario, thanks to the growing super-specialty/multi-specialty hospitals that have made quality healthcare accessible to one and all. However, with every innovation or change come challenges.

Challenges

So, let’s first have a look at the challenges that the revamped healthcare sector faces in terms of attending to patients:

  1. Tight timelines: As these hospitals cater to a range of health issues, there has been a rise in patient footfall, resulting in catering equal and quality time to patients. 
  2. Making it an experience: Due to a lack of a structured approach from pre-arrival to post-visit, these hospitals struggle to achieve patient satisfaction. 
  3. Stress: Long queues and unhappy patients add pressure to the hospital staff. 

Solutions

Now that we have a glimpse of the challenges, it’s time to have a look at the solution. It is loud and clear that the challenge revolves around patient queuing management and doctor-patient interaction. Therefore, here is a look at how can you address the same:

  1. Preparation is the key: Ensure that your staff gets all the patient information well in advance so that there is no delay in patient check-in. In the case of first-time patients, always have the patient arrive 15-20 mins so that they can fill in the introduction forms. 
  2. Delegation is the trick: Don’t fall in the zone of doing everything yourself. Based on the patient’s case history, it is suggested that your staff knows how to break the case history into prescriptions and tests and have dedicated staff addressing that before the patient meets the doctor. 
  3. The smart way of staying in touch with patients: Use the technology. Send a reminder message to patients about their appointment. This not only ensures that the patients arrive on time but also allows you to know cancellations in advance. 
  4. Keep the patients informed: On the other hand, if there is any change in the appointment or any test update that the patient should know, ensure that the patient is informed. 

The above mentioned are some of the key points, when implements, can actually reduce the patient waiting time. However, implementing the above points would need a strong and qualified staff.

Hospital Queue Management System

But what if we said that there is a better solution available! And the solution is embracing technology. Over the years, there have been numerous technological developments in the healthcare sector. One such innovation that has impacted patient and staff experience is the hospital queue management system

A hospital queue management system can be defined as an exclusive software. It is developed and designed to streamline patient’s complete hospital visit, from check-in to post service.

So what does it do???

For Patients

  1. Patients can access important dates like appointments, prescriptions, scheduled tests etc
  2. Patients can interact with their doctors and can raise any concern if any
  3. Helps patients to make appointments within a click. 
  4. Ensure social distancing.
  5. Reduce waiting time

For staff/doctors

  1. No more crowded waiting rooms
  2. Helps to maintain the walk-in patient flow along with the ones with an appointment
  3. This Helps maintain records and entries across all departments of the hospital. This can be like Operation theater, pharmacy, Lab, discharge and more. 
  4. Helps as a common thread that can hold all patients data across all branches for hospitals. It is helpful for hospitals that have multiple branches. 
  5. Help gather feedback from the patients.

Advantages of this system:

  1. This technology helps collate, connect and retrieve huge data with just a click. Thus, it saves a lot of time and also reduced need of staff. People who needed if all this information is manually managed can be reduced. 
  2. With less intervention, you can be assured of high accuracy of the information and fewer errors in data interpretation and collation.
  3. All the data is defined into specific fields and categories. Using this technology helps clear the division of data and retrieval. Also, ensures complete data security which is otherwise doubtful while maintaining physical records. 
  4. Saves space: Information that is otherwise recorded and stored in physical format that consumes a lot of space for storage is now available just with a click on the website/computer/mobile phones
  5. Saves money: Yes, developing customized queue management involves time and money. However, compared to the money spent on hiring and maintaining physical staff, this virtual approach is comparatively cost-effective and has long-lasting effort. 
  6. Improves efficiency: With everything streamlined and defined, it makes the life of the staff easy. All the staff need to do is understand how the system works and feed it with the required information. 
  7. Helps better quality control: The management can keep control of the entire patient experience flow, department wise performance and identifying the matters of concern. 
  8. Hassle-free audits: With all the information streamlined and organized, it not only makes the patient, staff and doctor’s life easy but also ensures a hassle-free audit and confirmation of compliances.

Conclusion

With the above-mentioned points, it is clear that a hospital queue management system is a boon the healthcare. Therefore, spending money on the same should be considered as an investment for the betterment of the overall functioning of the hospital and not as an expense. 

Considering the benefits and the growing demand for this technology, there has been a lot of service providers who offer already existing software or create one based on the magnitude and purpose of the software i.e. offer customized software solution. An in-depth online search about the available vendors and their previous works is all you need to find our PERFECT ONE.”