JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The greatest stressor for outpatients is the waiting time before the start of the examination. If the patient is able to use their smartphone to check in with the reception, the patient can wait for their examination at any location, and the burden of waiting time can be reduced.

Objective:

This study aimed to report the design approach and post-introduction outcomes of the Tori RinRin (TR2) system that was developed to reduce outpatient burden imposed by wait times before examination.

Methods:

The TR2 system was introduced at Tottori University Hospital, a large medical facility that accepts an average of 1,500 outpatients daily. The system, which links the hospital’s electronic medical record database with patients’ mobile devices, has the following two functions: 1) GPS-based examination check-in processing and 2) sending appointment notification messages via a cloud notification service.

Results:

In an investigation of 363 subjects, the mean examination call message response time using the TR2 system was 31 seconds (median 14 seconds). After 12 months, the system had 5,994 registered users and was used by a daily average of 18% of outpatients (mean ± SD = 155.7 ± 30.3). Among 166 subjects who responded to a user survey, 86.7% (144 of 166 patients) said that the system was useful.

Conclusions:

The ability of 18% of outpatients at a large medical facility to check in remotely and wait for examinations anywhere is effective for preventing the spread of infection, especially during pandemics such as the coronavirus disease. The app reported in this study is beneficial for large medical facilities striving to reduce outpatient burden imposed by wait times.