Analysis of How Patient Check-in Software Reduces Patient’s Waiting Time

Posted by Nisharao on May 9th, 2019

Go to any hospital or clinic and you will see many people waiting there for the doctor, to get diagnostic reports or to make an appointment. A recent study showed that:

• Manual registration time was usually between 15 to 30 minutes depending on whether the patient is new or returning
• Patients usually spent 40 to 120 minutes waiting for the doctor
• Average doctor consultation time was around 18-20 minutes
• Waiting time for follow-ups and getting medication was around 30 minutes on average

So, on average a patient may have to spend 2 to 4 hours in the medical centre, even though the average consultation time is less than 20 minutes. If the staff is less or the entire process is manually done, the wait time may be higher. In many cases, if the wait time is too high, patients who have come in for consultation may prefer to go elsewhere.

One of the biggest challenges that healthcare facilities face is managing the waiting patients and enable proper coordination between departments to ensure that each patient is given personalised care. Healthcare facilities that use patient check-in kiosks have found that the waiting time was significantly reduced. Some hospitals use mobile devices with patient check-in software for patient scheduling and follow-ups.

• These online systems allow patients to register before they come to the hospital, reducing the manual registration time (from 15 minutes to, effectively, 0 minutes)
• The healthcare centre can schedule the appointments based on doctor availability, consultation time, follow up time, and other factors and inform the same to the patient remotely. It reduces schedule overlaps and hospital wait time, significantly.
• The electronic data updated in the patient check-in kiosks is directly transmitted to the relevant department. So, the patients need not wait for manual transfer of data to the consulting doctor
• Details of follow up treatments can also be sent to the patient so that they can come to the clinic on time

The patient check-in software helps create an interactive platform where the patients and medical providers can connect and communicate. It also greatly reduces patient waiting time and help healthcare providers offer better service to the patients.