Previously submitted to: JMIR mHealth and uHealth (no longer under consideration since Jul 21, 2023)
Date Submitted: May 8, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Mobile Admission Process Could Reduce Administrative Turnaround Time of Hospitalization for Patients: A Retrospective Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
The traditional admission process can be time-consuming and inefficient, causing frustration for patients. Using mobile devices to simplify administrative tasks has become commonplace, and various ways to optimize hospital operations via mobile devices are emerging.
Objective:
This study explored the use of mobile apps to improve the hospital admission process, assessed their efficiency compared to traditional methods, and gathered user feedback through a questionnaire.
Methods:
This retrospective study was conducted at the Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital in South Korea from August 2022 to January 2023. This study compared the turnaround time of the walk-in admission process to that of the mobile admission process. Patients admitted through a doctor’s prescription from the outpatient department were included, whereas those admitted from the emergency room or with missing data were excluded. Data were collected based on the movement paths of patients or caregivers during the admission process. A survey using a System Usability Scale was conducted among mobile admission users. The primary outcome was the turnaround time for each admission method, and the factors associated with the usability of the mobile admission process were analyzed. During the study, mobile admissions users voluntarily responded to 10 questions on a system usability scale.
Results:
The study enrolled 4,344 patients to compare the turnaround time and demographics of mobile and walk-in admission processes. Results showed that the mobile admission process had a significantly shorter turnaround time of 13.4 minutes compared to 22.2 minutes for the walk-in process. Female, younger patients, and those admitted to surgery departments were likelier to use the mobile process. Elderly patients were less likely to undergo mobile admissions. Linear regression analysis showed that all the factors significantly affected the usability of the mobile device admission process. Survey based on systemic usability sale for mobile admission users showed good usability score, 74.4 points.
Conclusions:
The mobile admission process can reduce the task completion time compared to the traditional walk-in admission process owing to its superior usability.
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