Queue Management Service For Patients

on
July 21, 2023

Patients visiting hospitals are generally disturbed, feared and generally in pain. That's why hospitals and clinics must have to create a comfortable setting. Healthcare facilities are under immense pressure to maintain a comfortable environment and deliver better treatment to more patients while working with limited resources. For hospitals, this often ends up in nerve-racking circumstances for patients and healthcare staff.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the necessity for a queue management service that may handle patient flow in an exceedingly safe and economical manner. With the government's regulation to keep up a safe distance and a limit on the number of individuals in indoor areas, healthcare organisations ought to adapt and be agile to sustain the services whereas keeping everybody safe.

Deploying a queue management system in hospitals is an excellent way to ease the challenges. In this article, we have shared our recommendation on what to consider when the healthcare organisation wants to enhance the patient experience by incorporating queue management service.

Queqe Management

What Is A Queue Management Service?

The queue management system for hospitals quantifies the queue demand at any given time and informs the healthcare staff in a fraction of the time. It shows the number of patients connexion the queue, the number of patients waiting to be served, and their waiting period. The flow of patients through hospitals and clinics can be simplified by employing a queue management service. It will help reduce patient waiting time, avoid extensive waiting lines, and provide data related to patient care. Patients can join virtually, using QR barcodes, SMS, a web application, or an internet site's booking system by using a queue management system.

We can understand this with an example; suppose patient A arrives at the hospital in discomfort and cannot stand in a long queue to fill out the paperwork. The patient notices the hospital encompasses a patient queue management QR code on display. Patient A scans the QR code on their smartphone and receives a token number. The patient can now wait until their token number appears on the screen. Even if they miss their token number on the screen, they will receive an alert SMS or push notification on their phone.

What Are The Features Of Queue Management Service?

Patients used to come back at a definite interval of time to receive treatments. Therefore, long physical queues can be daily chaos in a healthcare organisation. Physical queues make it harder for healthcare providers to meet patients' needs while reassuring their safety and managing wait times. As a result, the Queue management system for clinics comes as a solution to all of the hardships associated with physical queues. Patients are anxious regarding long queues. Incorporating queue management services helps in enhancing the patient experience and boosts revenue. Features of the queue management system are as follows;

  • Contactless Service

Hospital queue management system provides a contactless environment, which benefits healthcare more than any other industry. As a result, there will be no need for visitors or patients to wait in crowded waiting rooms, which reduces the risk of viral transmission.

  • Waiting Aggregations

With the assistance of queue management service, patients will understand their expected wait times. Moreover, patients who are waiting for their turn receive a push notification or message notifying them of their appointments.

  • Peak Time Management

A queue management system in hospitals tracks peak times, which is helpful in deciding consistency patterns. Moreover, the pattern influences the relocation and recruiting conclusions. As a result, a lot of information is available, and it is more straightforward to make choices. The queue management system provides peace of mind by confirming that queues are moving in step with the schedule.

  • Improves Communication

When receiving services from healthcare organisations, one common concern is the lack of timely and transparent communication. A queue management system with SMS and E-mail capabilities allows hospitals and clinics to create and sustain two-way interaction channels.

  • Reduces Operational Costs

Patients will save time with a queue management system since they will sign-up for services from their comfort zone. Furthermore, it provides the foremost effective tools for tasks like cancelling appointments, managing service delays, etc.

  • Fair Queuing And Expected Wait Time

Patients understandably feel stuck when other patients jump before them in line, and it's a common problem in India. A queue management system for hospitals in India will facilitate alleviating this discomfort by fostering correct waiting rules for all. In an exceedingly long queue, when patients need to know how long they will have to wait in a long queue, their assumptions complicate the situation. As a result, of needing a reliable queue management system, patients might leave and seek treatment elsewhere.

  • Customisations

The queue management system allows hospitals and clinics to gather patient information through check-ins. As an example, their name, address, contact number, disease etc. This lets hospital employees focus more on giving their patients a nice and individualised experience.

  • Easy Operations

It is an indisputable fact that the more patients any hospital serves, the more profit it will get. Moreover, the shorter the patients' wait times, the more likely they will become potential consumers. The hospitals' queue management system lets the hospital authorities understand the patient's capability in a queue at any time. Hence, the patient-counting ability conjointly permits the healthcare organisation to manage long queues more efficiently.

Queue Management Service For Patients

How Can Hospitals And Clinics Benefit From Queue Management Services?

Before COVID-19, the patient would get into the front door of the doctor's clinic and check in at the desk with the clinic's frontline employees. But, after the pandemic, it's time to find a brand new route to get patients checked in for their appointments whereas minimising the hazard of transmitting ailments. The solution is a patient queue management service. It benefits the hospitals in the following ways;

  • Increased Patient Volume
    Hospitals across the country registered record-low patient volumes throughout the pandemic because of restricted in-person interactions. One of the most profitable benefits of the queue management system is helping healthcare providers return to pre-COVID-19 patient volumes. With the simplest way to safely intercommunicate and treat patients without the formal waiting room setting, clinics can schedule more visits and bill for more services with the help of queue management service software.
  • Fulfil Social Distancing Guidelines
    Almost every state within the country has executed some kind of social distancing regulations to minimise the risk of infections from one person to another. It is vital that healthcare organisations stick to social distancing guidelines to keep their patients safe and slow down the spread of infectious diseases. With a queue management service, hospitals and clinics will able to follow these regulations while also increasing patient volumes to mirror pre-pandemic numbers. The technology helps patients stay in their comfort zone until the hospital is ready to give them a health checkup.
  • Effortless Workflow
    With a queue management service, the front office can run with better organisation and efficiency than ever before. The software helps them effortlessly track which patients have checked in, which patient is waiting, where they are in the process, who needs to be discharged, and plenty of additional information. With an automatic queue, the software makes it easy for the hospital's front-line staff to multi-task and complete additional daily tasks whereas operating with patients to keep them safe and informed.
  • Improved Patient Satisfaction
    Healthcare organisations can improve the patient experience by reducing frustrating wait times with a queue management service. More than that, the healthcare organisation can enhance the all-around workflow, keeping their patients happy and satisfied. Improving efficiency will result in smooth patient interaction and a far better image of the organisation. Even on normal days, the queue management system can facilitate keeping patients impressed with the overall treatment process.

How Can Queue Management Systems Improve Patient Experience?

Queue management will be partially digitalised or utterly digitalised. Queue management systems have recently become a feature in most hospital management systems. The feature is specially designed for outpatient clinics, diagnostic centres, and hospitals, wherever patient queues often create chaos and disturbance to the workflow. The queue management service with the EMR will help the hospital staff to prioritise terminally ill, pregnant, and old patients.

It can even produce daily and monthly reports on the efficiency of the queue management system that includes data on average wait time and daily patient numbers, enabling the healthcare organisation to grasp whether the process is swimmingly functioning or not. Most queue management software offers self-service queue check-in options wherein the patients can check themselves into the online queues.

How To Set Up A Queue Management System For Healthcare Providers?

A clear sight of patients' experiences and opinions is fundamental. Such information enables healthcare organisations to identify and work on potential issues, ultimately enhancing diagnostic and treatment quality. The implementation of queue management service permits the collection of patients' valuable feedback. One way is to set up interactive tables and display them at various locations where patients can submit their feedback. Another effective strategy is the queue management system. It offers an SMS or E-mail with a post-visit feedback survey link to patients. That helps the patient give valuable feedback related to their experience.

Patient queue management is crucial for every hospital and clinic. It helps improve the patient's treatment protocol to boost the satisfaction level with the healthcare organisation. The queue management software benefits both patients and healthcare providers immensely.