Outpatient Clinic Tracking Systems

Having looked at Patient Tracking Systems in the OR and ED settings in previous postings, we now turn to systems for Outpatient (Ambulatory) Clinics. As increasing numbers of medical conditions are conducted in the outpatient setting, the importance of managing patient flow increases. A tracking system can help optimize patient flow through Outpatient Clinics reducing wait times and increasing revenue.

Wavelength Information Services produces such a system.

A set of events is assigned to each patient when they arrive. As they receive each service, the user clicks to indicate that the patient is ready for their next event. The system displays the clinic that each patient is going to visit, along with the time of arrival, time of registration, and time the patient enters the care area.

In a study conducted to demonstrate the need for tracking systems in Outpatient Clinics, hospitals were found to have very different patient arrival patterns.

Two Ambulatory Surgical Centers were compared on the study. Hospital 1 has a clear patient arrival peak that will stress resources, whereas Hospital 2 has a more uniform patient arrival pattern.

This graph shows the gap between mean and maximum bed occupancy in an Ambulatory Surgical Center.

This table shows the variability from one physician to another when performing the same procedure.

Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that the resources of Outpatient Centers are not used evenly throughout the day or by different providers resulting in stresses on the resources of the center. The study makes a strong case for a patient tracking system like the one above, which besides helping move patients through the center more quickly would allow for a patient arrival pattern that is more spread out.

ED Tracking Systems

The Emergency Department (ED) is both a primary site of care for many and an important entry point into the hospital. As a result, many EDs are overcrowded. To increase capacity and improve quality, EDs have turned to patient tracking systems.

One such system is made by Logicare.

As well as tracking a patient’s location in the ED, i.e. whether the patient is in the waiting room or in an examination room, it shows the name, age, and sex of that patient, their complaint, the RN and MD that saw them, length of stay, and any lab or radiology tests that may have been ordered. In some systems, RFID bracelets are used for automated entry of the patient’s location.

A recent survey of California hospitals showed that 69% used an ED tracking system. The two major reasons cited for using these systems was to improve quality of care and patient satisfaction. Users expressed high satisfaction with most features of ED tracking systems, such as ability to pull real-time data, user-friendliness, and ability to enter orders in a single location. However, users were unsatisfied with the ability to interact with other IT systems and physiologic/vital signs equipment. This seems to be a recurring theme in healthcare IT systems, and solutions to integrate the different IT systems used by healthcare organizations will have to be developed if adoption of IT by hospitals is to be improved.