Enhanced patient experiences are driving today’s healthcare market. As patients become more involved in their healthcare decisions, they’re shifting toward a model where they’re perceived as consumers. And as the patient experience continues to evolve as a competitive differentiator, healthcare organizations must evolve in pace. By leveraging modern technology, medical systems can improve the patient experience and gain a competitive edge.
Wait Times are a Powerful Influencer of the Patient Experience
While many aspects contribute to a positive hospital-, clinic- or lab-visit, one crucial element of the patient experience is wait time. Nothing frustrates a patient more than sitting in a lobby, watching as others are seen by the doctor, and having no information about when their turn will be. And an experience perceived as valuable time wasted may result in patients leaving your facility, never to return again. Moreover, if they post their frustrations on social media, potential patients may be driven away. However, with the Wait Anywhere queuing solution from NEMO-Q, healthcare facilities can improve the patient experience through wait time management.
E-Triage Tools Can Deliver Better Patient Outcomes and Experiences
A study from the Annals of Emergency Medicine journal found that when compared to standard emergency severity index (ESI), an e-triage tool was a difference-maker in patient outcomes. Based on a system’s engineering approach, an e-triage tool uses an algorithm to predict patient outcomes, as well as advanced machine learning technology to identify relationships between predictive data and patient outcomes. These tools also provide decision-making support to clinicians.
Amassing data from over 173,000 emergency room visits, the journal’s study revealed significant variances in patient priority levels using e-triage and ESI. Out of more than 65% of the visits that were triaged to ESI Level 3 status, about 10% could have benefitted from being assigned to a more critical priority level. Also, helping to decrease wait times and the overuse of limited resources, e-triage assigned more low-acuity patients to a lower level priority.
Wait Anywhere Features Offer Transparency in Queuing
Today, fusing new and existing technologies, the NEMO-Q Wait Anywhere queuing solution enables patients to make valuable use of their waiting time by allowing them to secure a place in line from anywhere, expediting check-in processes and time spent waiting in lobbies.
With Wait Anywhere, individuals can easily enter your queue online from any phone, computer, or kiosk in your facility. Purposely engineered to adapt to both young and aging demographic preferences, younger patients can utilize the Wait Anywhere solution via smartphone or computer while older patients can use their landline phones instead. Further, while onsite, patients can choose to enter queues via a kiosk or personally interact with a receptionist or triage nurse—whatever they prefer.
Easy to use, with Wait Anywhere, patients simply access your website and click on the link to see projected wait times at a given location. Then, by entering their mobile number, they’re assigned an appointment time and become part of the queue. Messages are sent with an approximate wait time along with follow up reminders as needed. Wait Anywhere messages are also customizable and can be integrated with interactive capabilities, offering patients the ability to ask for more time, cancel, or ask for help. When they arrive, patients can check-in using the self-serve kiosk or with your staff. Wait Anywhere even enables you to blend in walk-in traffic. These patients just input a confirmation code into the touchscreen kiosk to verify their status, then select a time to be added to the queue.
Featuring a global management dashboard, Wait Anywhere also enables access to analytics, tracking wait times, and service levels in real-time by office, region, or across multiple locations. The dashboard can likewise measure employee productivity, including the monitoring of employee waste time (a NEMO-Q exclusive!), and notify management by text or email when wait times or other parameters are exceeded.
Facilitate Patient Satisfaction with Surveys
Medical aid is not all that a patient seeks; quality care in a patient-centric environment is also paramount. Gauging how a facility is perceived by the patrons served, customer satisfaction surveys garner immediate feedback, gathering specific information about positive and negative patient perceptions that could improve both a facility’s services and bottom line. Available to patients in a variety of channels—from tablets in the patient rooms or kiosks at the exit—NEMO-Q satisfaction surveys provide valuable information that administration can leverage to make improvements and streamline patient visits.
As a global leader in queue management software, NEMO-Q offers healthcare organizations the opportunity to modernize how patients wait. Our robust platform allows you to manage queuing and collect data, empowering timelier visits and insights that improve both the patient experience and your competitive edge. Learn more about our healthcare-specific queuing capabilities by scheduling a demo today.
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