JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

During the COVID-19 outbreak in May 2021, our hospital, designated as a specialized facility for severely infected patients, faced severe staff and resource shortages. The urgent need for efficient bed management to ensure timely admissions highlighted the inefficiencies of a manual, phone-based allocation process, which averaged 454 seconds per query. Traditional information technology (IT) solutions were unfeasible due to time and cost constraints.

Objective:

To design and implement a rapid, zero-cost Quick Isolation Bed Inquiry System that delivers real-time bed information and enables timely admissions without additional manpower or expense.

Methods:

We conducted a 3-cycle, pre–post quality improvement study guided by Toyota Business Practice (TBP), an 8-step problem-solving framework. After clarifying the problem and constructing a value stream map, we identified bottlenecks. A user-centered solution was created by leveraging an underutilized data export function in the hospital’s bed inquiry platform. Using Microsoft Excel Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), we automated filtering and display of relevant bed information. Primary outcomes were process time and number of steps; secondary outcomes were staff time savings and system accuracy.

Results:

The baseline manual process required 25 steps and 454 seconds to complete a query. The new system reduced this to 3 steps and 12 seconds, representing a 97.4% improvement in efficiency. Single-click execution produced three outputs (administrative PDF, large-screen display, and mobile version) in 4 seconds, with distribution to the hospital LINE group in 7 seconds. Reliability reached 100%, with continuous availability via Virtual Private Network (VPN) access. Development and debugging were completed within 3 days using only existing resources. Post-pandemic, the system was adapted for general ward management with minimal modifications.

Conclusions:

Applying TBP enabled rapid development of a user-centered, zero-cost bed management tool by repurposing existing digital assets. The intervention significantly enhanced efficiency, reliability, and usability without added staffing or expenditure, offering a scalable model for agile healthcare systems operating under resource constraints. Future work will pursue deeper automation, such as Application Programming Interface (API)-based real-time updates, and assess downstream impacts on patient flow and bed turnover.