Experiences With Internet Triaging of 9498 Outpatients Daily at the Largest Public Hospital in Taiwan During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Observational Study.
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
hospital
information services
outpatients
patient
triage
virus
Journal
JMIR medical informatics
ISSN: 2291-9694
Titre abrégé: JMIR Med Inform
Pays: Canada
ID NLM: 101645109
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
27 Jul 2021
27 Jul 2021
Historique:
received:
04
06
2020
accepted:
23
05
2021
revised:
05
05
2021
pubmed:
28
5
2021
medline:
28
5
2021
entrez:
27
5
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
During pandemics, acquiring outpatients' travel, occupation, contact, and cluster histories is one of the most important measures in assessing the disease risk among incoming patients. Previous means of acquiring this information in the examination room have been insufficient in preventing disease spread. This study aimed to demonstrate the deployment of an automatic system to triage outpatients over the internet. An automatic system was incorporated in the existing web-based appointment system of the hospital and deployed along with its on-site counterpart. Automatic queries to the virtual private network travel and contact history database with each patient's national ID number were made for each attempt to acquire the patient's travel and contact histories. Patients with relevant histories were denied registration or entry. Text messages were sent to patients without a relevant history for an expedited route of entry if applicable. A total of 127,857 visits were recorded. Among all visits, 91,195 were registered on the internet. In total, 71,816 of them generated text messages for an expedited route of entry. Furthermore, 65 patients had relevant histories, as revealed by the virtual private network database, and were denied registration or entry. An automatic triage system to acquire outpatients' relevant travel and contact histories was deployed rapidly in one of the largest academic medical centers in Taiwan. The updated system successfully denied patients with relevant travel or contact histories entry to the hospital, thus preventing long lines outside the hospital. Further efforts could be made to integrate the system with the electronic medical record system.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
During pandemics, acquiring outpatients' travel, occupation, contact, and cluster histories is one of the most important measures in assessing the disease risk among incoming patients. Previous means of acquiring this information in the examination room have been insufficient in preventing disease spread.
OBJECTIVE
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to demonstrate the deployment of an automatic system to triage outpatients over the internet.
METHODS
METHODS
An automatic system was incorporated in the existing web-based appointment system of the hospital and deployed along with its on-site counterpart. Automatic queries to the virtual private network travel and contact history database with each patient's national ID number were made for each attempt to acquire the patient's travel and contact histories. Patients with relevant histories were denied registration or entry. Text messages were sent to patients without a relevant history for an expedited route of entry if applicable.
RESULTS
RESULTS
A total of 127,857 visits were recorded. Among all visits, 91,195 were registered on the internet. In total, 71,816 of them generated text messages for an expedited route of entry. Furthermore, 65 patients had relevant histories, as revealed by the virtual private network database, and were denied registration or entry.
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
An automatic triage system to acquire outpatients' relevant travel and contact histories was deployed rapidly in one of the largest academic medical centers in Taiwan. The updated system successfully denied patients with relevant travel or contact histories entry to the hospital, thus preventing long lines outside the hospital. Further efforts could be made to integrate the system with the electronic medical record system.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34043524
pii: v9i7e20994
doi: 10.2196/20994
pmc: PMC8317989
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
e20994Informations de copyright
©Ding-Heng Lu, Chia-An Hsu, Eunice J Yuan, Jun-Jeng Fen, Chung-Yuan Lee, Jin-Lain Ming, Tzeng-Ji Chen, Wui-Chiang Lee, Shih-Ann Chen. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (https://medinform.jmir.org), 27.07.2021.
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