Nowadays, there is pressure on hospitals to provide on-time and high-quality care to their patients. They need to pay extra attention to patients’ treatment and experience. However, the long queues at the hospitals are one of the main reasons hospitals’ operational efficiency is decreasing. Patients find these long waiting lines frustrating and spoil their experience. Still, many hospitals use traditional ways of controlling long waiting lines such as pen-paper, manual registration, etc. These old methods are not effective and take a lot of time. That is why they need to integrate a hospital queue management system to meet the demands of modern healthcare environments. In this guest blog, we will discuss what this smart system is and what are the benefits of using it at hospital premises.
Introduction of Patient Queue Management System
A Patient queue management system is a cloud-based system that simplifies the process of managing long patient queues. It automates manual tasks which reduces the chances of human errors and results in more efficient operations. The system helps improve patients’ journeys and maintains a good image of the hospital in the healthcare industry.
Advantages of Using Hospital Queue System
There are several benefits of installing a hospital queue system and we will check a few of them through the below-given points. Let us start to explore more about it!
Smoother Self-Check-in Process
The old pen-paper method of patient registration is time-consuming and results in human errors. That is why the patient queue management system provides a self-check-in process. In this, patients can check in the hospitals on their own without the help of any staff member. Here, a patient needs to scan the QR code present outside the premises or log in their basic details on the kiosk systems. This will show the patient a new webpage where they select their desired service. After this, the system provides each patient with a unique ticket number which shows the patient’s position in the queue. Now, they don’t have to stand in long lines or worry about securing a position in the long waiting lines. This reduces patients’ waiting time and improves their experience.
Online Appointment Booking
One of the main benefits of a queue management system is that it provides an online appointment booking feature. With this feature, patients can book their appointments online at any time. They can also select the booking slot with their preferred doctor according to the timings that suit them. This feature is useful, especially for old and disabled patients who can’t visit the hospital regularly. Moreover, this online booking feature frees hospital staff from keeping manual book logs for appointment records and reduces double bookings.
Minimizes Late Cancellations
Last-minute appointment cancellations and no-shows are the main reasons for revenue loss. This happens when patients book their appointments in advance but don’t visit the hospital on the scheduled date. So, the queue management system sends automatic booking reminders to patients a few days before the booking date. This helps patients to remember their reserved date and reach the center on time. These reminders are personalized and are sent through email or text messages. The system also provides the advantage of adjusting the booking time if a patient misses an appointment. This helps reduce no-shows and late cancellations so staff can provide services according to the schedules.
Real-Time Queue Monitoring
The queue management system allows the hospital staff to monitor the patient queues. They can check how many patients are present in the hospital, where they are in the queue, and how long they have been waiting in the queue. This also helps them to find any unsafe activity and take immediate action or allocate more staff. The real-time queue monitoring feature helps in the easy running of the operations.
Save Staff’s Valuable Time
In hospitals, patients manage many operations such as scheduling appointments, handling patient queues, maintaining patient data, etc. This consumes a lot of time and gives very little time for themselves or patients. However, by installing a queue management system for the hospital, the staff can save valuable time. The system automates the daily routine tasks of the hospitals without any human mistakes. This gives staff members enough time to relax and increase their productivity so they can work more efficiently.
Reduce Patients’ Stress
Patients are already tense when they come to hospitals and the long queues make them feel more anxious. They don’t like to stand in long queues without any proper information. The QMS provides them with real-time information such as their average waiting time, the number of patients ahead, and any changes in the queue. This accurate information helps patient’s informed decisions which are good for them.
Data Collection and Reporting
It is vital to keep a close eye on the different activities to know the positive and negative areas of the hospitals. However, it is difficult to collect data and make reports with the old methods. The hospital queue system monitors the performance of the activities to collect data and provide detailed reports. The system provides reports on patient satisfaction, inventory stock, etc. Hospital managers can check these reports to find the problematic areas and make decisions that make improvements.
Integration With Different Systems
The queue handling system provides easy integration with different systems. This helps increase the functionality of the system and gives better results. The system easily integrates with Hospital Information System APIs (Plato, Elite Plus). Also, the software can be easily integrated with payment gateways, and accounting systems for quick and secure payment processing.
Conclusion
Hence, the patient queue management system is necessary to manage long queues and provide high-quality medical treatment to patients. It makes routine tasks easy and increases its efficiency. The software provides several benefits that help meet the needs of modern healthcare and make a good image in the industry.
Author Bio:
Allen Daniel is a passionate writer associated with Qwaiting since 2018. She provides technology and software-related content which is very informative and knowledgeable. With the help of her content, you can grow your business.
Source: Explore
