@Article{info:doi/10.2196/15313,
author="Xie, Wanhua
and Cao, Xiaojun
and Dong, Hongwei
and Liu, Yu",
title="The Use of Smartphone-Based Triage to Reduce the Rate of Outpatient Error Registration: Cross-Sectional Study",
journal="JMIR Mhealth Uhealth",
year="2019",
month="Nov",
day="11",
volume="7",
number="11",
pages="e15313",
keywords="smartphone; triage; outpatients; personal satisfaction",
abstract="Background: In many clinics, patients now have the option to make Web-based appointments but doing so according to their own judgment may lead to wrong registration and delayed medical services. We hypothesized that smartphone-based triage in outpatient services is superior to Web-based self-appointment registration guided by the medical staff. Objective: This study aimed to investigate smartphone-based triage in outpatient services compared with Web-based self-appointment registration and to provide a reference for improving outpatient care under appointment registration. Methods: The following parameters in Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center were analyzed: wrong registration rate, the degree of patient satisfaction, outpatient visits 6 months before and after smartphone-based triage, queries after smartphone-based triage, number of successful registrations, inquiry content, and top 10 recommended diseases and top 10 recommended departments after queries. Results: Smartphone-based triage showed significant effects on average daily queries, which accounted for 16.15{\%} (1956/12,112) to 29.46{\%} (3643/12,366) of daily outpatient visits. The average daily successful registration after queries accounted for 56.14{\%} (1101/1961) to 60.92{\%} (1437/2359) of daily queries and 9.33{\%} (1130/12,112) to 16.83{\%} (2081/12,366) of daily outpatient visits. The wrong registration rate after smartphone-based triage was reduced from 0.68{\%} (12,810/1,895,829) to 0.12{\%} (2379/2,017,921) (P<.001), and the degree of patient satisfaction was improved. Monthly outpatient visits were increased by 0.98{\%} (3192/325,710) to 13.09{\%} (42,939/328,032) compared with the same period the preceding year (P=.02). Conclusions: Smartphone-based triage significantly reduces the wrong registration rate caused by patient Web-based appointment registration and improves the degree of patient satisfaction. Thus, it is worth promoting. ",
issn="2291-5222",
doi="10.2196/15313",
url="http://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/11/e15313/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/15313",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31710300"
}