When it comes to the provision of better healthcare, some measures have to be put into consideration. For instance, scheduling is one of the aspects in the sector of nursing and healthcare provider that has been changing as time goes by. In healthcare department, scheduling is the process that is directly aimed at improving the relationship of healthcare resources and the needs of the patients. Examples of these healthcare resources include doctors, rooms, nurses, medical equipment, as well as medicines. For proper and improved healthcare services to be improved, then the scheduling system must be considered and improved at all times. Therefore a sound scheduling system reduces the waiting period of patients while at the same hand, improving the utilization of critical resources. Following this, it is, therefore, important to understand how the scheduling process has evolved. By doing so, one will able to understand the history of electronic scheduling.
According to Zhao et al., (2017), the healthcare industry is changing drastically with all the emphasis being directed on the patients. All the healthcare providers came to acknowledge that patients also play a significant role in healthcare delivery as well as design which acted as the primary contributor to this change. The physicians also realized the fact that patients needed to be considered if at all, they wanted to achieve better healthcare outcomes. The first aspect that they consider was in regards to medical appointment scheduling which serves as the starting point non-healthcare providers (Zhao et al., 2017). Medical appointment scheduling is currently undergoing many improvements in the aim of supporting the active involvement of patients. These major developments are accomplished through the use of the internet, which is now easily accessible to many people with the help of the growing technology. Through the internet, patients are given the freedom of not only booking but also choosing the kind of services they want. Patients are free to make decisions regarding their preferred appointments as well as suggest how to improve access to healthcare (Zhao et al., 2017). As a way of testing this evolution, the authors conducted a study to identify the advantages, disadvantages and barriers to the implementation of Web-based medical scheduling.
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Through searching through all the documents related to the impact of Web-based appointment scheduling, a total of 36 articles were discussed and reviewed. It was proved that this Web-based scheduling was bringing positive changes as well as the overall healthcare system. For instance, it proved to improve patient satisfaction, reduced waiting time, decreased staff labor and significantly reduced no-show rate. However, cost and other significant factors have been the main barriers to the adoption of Web-based appointment systems. Additionally, it is now clear that people are switching to the evolving technology, especially when it comes to scheduling. The major reason as to why the scheduling process has been changing is because of how limited it was in the past. Schedulers either through telephone or in-person were the only way to traditionally make an appointment or schedule a meeting with a healthcare provider. These past methods required verbal communications with real people who made it less reliable, especially in complicated situations (Zhao et al., 2017). These daily increasing needs and call for health services at the right time with the right healthcare provider are the major contributors to the evolvement of scheduling.
Proper scheduling and management is a critical component not only to the healthcare organizations but also to any organization that deals with customers. The traditional way of scheduling was only considered to be a pain in the neck since it was not reliable, and the waiting time was longer than usual. If a proper scheduling system is not put in place, then it can have adverse effects on the overall operations of the organization (Appointment-Plus, 2012). In the healthcare world, scheduling is the main component since patients require health services at all time and therefore requires a reliable system. With the emerging technological inventions, Online Scheduling Software remains to be the best option for healthcare organizations since it is the most effective and efficient way of managing appointments and other vital functions. Through online services, the scheduling process provides the advanced ability to streamlining the process and making it easier to book online. The other added advantages of online booking are efficient accessibility and also helps the organization to stay connected with their patients. The system is also time-saving and will also help both the organization and the patients to save money (Appointment-Plus, 2012). The traditional way was costly and time-wasting, and therefore, the reason why drastic changes are occurring in terms of scheduling.
According to the Committee on Optimizing Scheduling in Health Care et al. (2015), every person would like to receive immediate health services at the word go at any time for our families or us. It not only comes as a wish but is the expectation of every individual since quality healthcare is a right for every citizen. The slogan of whether “one would like to get help or be asked whether they need help or not” is a patient-centered philosophy that everyone wishes to hear or experience. This means that the patient is also a major contributor to the quality and improved healthcare. The need to involve the patients was the one that led to the introduction of electronic scheduling which is accessible to the patients at any time wherever they are. A well and timely scheduling have been associated with the provision of quality care following a study conducted in England. In the past, there were more cases related to no-show in regards to the appointment since the waiting time was longer than usual (Committee on Optimizing Scheduling in Health Care et al., 2015). Therefore, most of the patients were left unsatisfied with the services and hence only a few were returning for check-ups and follow-up care.
Electronic scheduling is now taking over, where a computer-automated tool is designed to simplify the complex process of patients scheduling as well as record handling. The tools have made it easy to input, notify, correlate and link all the planned schedules to medical records, including the patient's details and personal information. The tool has led to cost-saving since the computer does work that could have required many employees to handle and attend to. It is also time-saving since the process is done within seconds hence reducing all the paperwork that could have been done manually. The need for an effective and efficient way of scheduling and record keeping to save time and cost for both parties is the one that also led to the introduction of electronic scheduling (Martinez, & Guillama, 2009). The electronic way has gone to an extent where patients are now able to pay electronically using Visa cards or credit cards which has reduced the need for carrying substantial cash which can lead to theft or loss. Another added advantage to the electronic way of scheduling and record-keeping are the links to relevant information or hospital alerts which would reach the patients at the comfort of their homes at no cost at all (Hall, & Partyka, 2019). It is also an advantage to the health facility since they will only need to upload the required information on their site where it can reach their patients at once without the need of sending personal messages which would also be costly.
References
Appointment-Plus. (2012). Manual vs. automated appointment scheduling: The time and monetary savings of switching to online scheduling software . Retrieved on 16 September 2019, from https://www.appointmentplus.com/wp-content/themes/appointmentplus-theme/dist/img/pdf/manual_vs_automated_appointment_scheduling.pdf
Committee on Optimizing Scheduling in Health Care, Institute of Medicine, Kaplan G., Lopez M. H. & McGinnis, J. M. (2015). Improving Health Care Scheduling. In transforming health care scheduling and access: Getting to now . Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US).
Hall, R. & Partyka, J. (2019). Scheduling for better healthcare. INFORMS . Retrieved on 16 September 2019, from https://www.informs.org/ORMS-Today/Public-Articles/June-Volume-39-Number-3/Scheduling-for-better-healthcare2
Martinez, P., & Guillama, N. (2009). U.S. Patent Application No. 12/349,738 . Retrieved on 16 September 2019, from https://e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrievePdf?system=BPAI&flNm=fd2014005876-09-20-2016-1
Zhao, P., Yoo, I., Lavoie, J., Lavoie, B. J., & Simoes, E. (2017). Web-based medical appointment systems: A systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19 (4), e134. doi:10.2196/jmir.6747
