A Comprehensive Guide to Queue Management Software Development for Hospitals

In today’s advancing world, hospitals are adopting new technologies to transform diagnosis and medication practices. The primary goal is to provide patients with a smooth treatment journey and improve their integrity in the industry. However, keeping up with the constant stream of innovation is quite challenging, especially in managing long hospital waiting lines. This is when having a queue management system for hospitals turns out to be beneficial in managing patients' queuing experience and reducing waiting time.

This blog below discusses the comprehensive guide to a queue management system for hospitals. So, let's start reading it now!

What is a Hospital Queuing System?

Yes, waiting in hospitals is inevitable, but it doesn’t necessarily mean waiting in congestion and poor operational management. That is why using a queue management system in a hospital helps prevent such scenarios.

A queue management system is a cloud-based system that helps manage patient flow and serves patients in the correct order. It automates routine administrative operations to boost staff efficiency and ensure a trouble-free patient experience.

The system can be hardware and software, allowing staff to monitor and manage patients' complete journeys from check-in to check-out in real-time. Different QMS include different tools according to their business requirements. Some include a simple ticket system and call-ups, while others provide more advanced tools such as appointment management, data analysis, etc.

Challenges Due to Long Queues in Hospitals

Healthcare is the most sensitive industry, and a small delay in service can risk someone’s life. Due to long queues, hospitals face the following major challenges.

Overcrowding

Inefficient patient management results in overcrowding in hospitals and clinics. This leads to a shortage of beds, delays in medical reports, and a shortage of medical staff.

Operational Inefficiency

Mismatched queues exhaust the medical staff and reduce their productivity. Hence, they disrupt administrative operations and increase costs.

Patient Dissatisfaction

Managing long queues with manual management of administrative tasks increases the service time for each patient, which delays patient care and results in patient dissatisfaction.

Late Arrivals and No-Shows

When patients visit a hospital, they are already in pain and anxiety. Seeing the long queues makes them more stressed and wastes their time. They may think that the service quality is poor and make them feel uncared for, which results in situations like no-shows.

Risk of Infections Transfer

After COVID-19, the risk of viral infections has grown more rapidly. Standing in long queues without proper precautions can result in infection transfer, making more people sick.

Key Functionalities of a Patient Queue Management System: Must-Have

Read the points below to learn the must-have functionalities that We integrate in our queue management software development solutions.

1. Virtual Queuing

Hospitals’ primary goal is to deliver high-quality and fair services to every patient. However, the physically disabled and old people face challenges as they aren’t able to visit the health center repeatedly and not able to stand in queue. We provide a hospital software development service that provides the ultimate solution for this. It eliminates the need to stand in long lines physically by letting patients join the queue virtually. They can simply check in the queue remotely through their mobile devices, QR scanning, or on-site kiosk system. The system updates each patient with real-time queue updates so they can reach the center close to their turn.

2. Centralized Management

As an administrator, whether you use a queue management system for clinics or hospitals, it provides the same level of accessibility and scalability. It gives a larger view of the location’s performance through a centralized dashboard. You can check patients' previous visits, medication, and data from a single dashboard. Plus, the system allows you to check inventory stocks and overall team performance to assign duties accordingly. You don’t have to switch between different platforms and save valuable time.

3. Smooth Third-Party Integration through API

Another functionality of the QMS system is smoother multiple-party integration through API. It quickly integrates with different systems with minimum downfalls. You can easily connect it with CRM (Customer relationship management), digital signage to display updates, Google Doc sheets for easy report import, etc.

4. Multilanguage Voice Hover

Thousands of patients visit clinics and hospitals from different locations daily. Some may not understand the native language and find it difficult to understand important updates. This may spoil their experience and result in dissatisfaction. However, a queue management system provides multi-language voice hovers for easy understanding for all patients.

5. Detailed Payment Bills and Invoices

The queue management system allows patients to make electronic payments and generates automatic bills and invoices for each transaction. This ensures a smoother workflow without any payment errors.

6. Two-way communication between Patients and Staff

Queue management software for hospitals facilitates good communication between patients and medical staff. It supports end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive details from third parties and makes it accessible to the intended recipient only. The admin may also integrate AI chatbots in the system and train them to provide relevant answers to all the frequently asked questions by the user.

7. Compliance with hospitals Regulations

A hospital queuing management system helps provide consistent and high-quality services to patients with complete safety. Therefore, it is compliant with relevant industrial rules and regulations. For example, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and GDPR (General Data Protection and Regulation) are used to protect patient data and confidentiality. These rules and regulations protect patient details, ensure quality services, and maintain good integrity of hospitals.

8. Single-sign-on Authentication (SSO)

Memorizing complex passwords leads to errors and wastes a lot of time. Therefore, the queuing system provides an SSO ( single-sign-on Authentication) feature, which allows a single user to access different locations only from a single sign-on.

Tech Stack for Queue Management System in a Hospital

Category	Tools and Technology
Front end	React.js, Angular HTML5 & CSS3, Vue.js Bootstrap, Material UI
Back-end	Node.js, Django (Python), Ruby on Rails PHP, Laravel
Database	PostgreSQL, MySQL MongoDB, Redis
Network Security	Firewall, IDS
Authentication & Authorisation	Okta for (2FA)
Third-Party Integration Services	Payment gateways( Paypal, Stripe, OAuth (User Authentication)

How Does a Queue Management System Work in Hospitals?

Since COVID-19, it has become crucial to use a queue management system in hospitals to manage chaotic lines and improve service functionalities. The following are pointers explaining the workings of the QMS system in hospitals.

Self-service check-in

When patients arrive, they can self-check in the hospital without the intervention of the staff. The system provides an on-site QR code or kiosk system where patients scan or enter their details to get a unique ticket number. This ticket number is each patient’s position in the queue, which helps keep the overall proportion of visitors to the hospital.

Track Patient Status in Queue

When patients join the virtual queue, they need to keep track of their ticket status. The queue management system can be integrated with large digital signage in waiting rooms, halls, receptions, pharmacies, etc. It displays the real-time ticket status so patients can track their position wherever they are in hospitals.

Manage Appointments

The queue management system helps hospital employees manage patients’ appointments. It allows them to check each patient’s booking timings, re-appointments, and cancellations, verify payment status, close bookings, etc. The front desk staff can easily see how many patients have booked appointments, are waiting, and haven’t come up.

Productivity Analytical Reports

Proper allocation of medical staff and resources is crucial to assisting every patient. Inadequate distribution affects service quality and patient experience. However, implementing a queue management system in a hospital prevents such cases. It tracks the total number of patients in the queue and the resources available in the hospital. Plus, it predicts the peak hours, allowing the administrator to assign staff accordingly for maximum cover up.

Triage Patients During Emergencies

The word “triage” means sorting, and medically, it is the process of prioritizing patients based on their medical conditions. For example, a patient with a severe head injury is treated first, followed by a person with a mild fever. A doctor queue management system helps front desk staff categorize patients based on their medication. Then, it sends the list to the doctors and medical staff in the emergency department for further treatment

Advantages of Queue Management System Development

Below are the benefits of implementing a queue management system in hospitals. Check them out!

1. For Patients

Online Appointment Booking

The traditional method of appointment booking is a real headache for patients as they have to call the receptionists repeatedly, which consumes a lot of time. However, the queue management system provides online appointment booking features to patients. They can book appointments with their preferred doctor using their mobile phones. Plus, they have the option to select the date and time of the booking slot according to their schedules.

Self-Check-in Kiosk

Patients don’t need to stand in lines for the registration process. Instead, they can self-check in at the hospital with a digital kiosk system. They receive a unique ticket number showing their place in the queue. Patients can join the queue virtually without struggling to find a spot to stand in long waiting lines.

Receive Booking Reminders

Sometimes, patients book appointments in advance but forget at the last minute, causing them to reschedule them again. However, this is not the case with a queue management system, which uses push notifications to remind patients of their upcoming bookings. By receiving these reminders, patients can plan their hospital visits accordingly for on-time treatment.

Real-Time Queue Updates

The queue management system sends real-time queue updates to patients to simplify their journey. It updates them with their estimated wait time, total patients ahead, changes in the queue, etc. Plus, it notifies them when appointment time is near. This information helps patients use their time wisely and smooth their journey.

Collect Patient Feedback

The queue management system allows patients to share their experiences through ratings, reviews, and comments. The system asks for feedback after every visit through text message, mobile ticket, and email.

2. For Medical Staff

Multiple Appointment Handing

Hospital queuing systems help staff handle multiple medical appointments. They automate tasks like appointment scheduling, rescheduling, cancellations, etc. Plus, they keep an organized record of all patients via EHR integration service. This reduces staff’s work burden and lets them focus on other important administrative operations.

Real-Time Queue Monitoring

Through queue management's intuitive dashboard, staff can keep a close eye on queues in the hospital. They can see the total number of patients, average service time, patient waiting time, abandonment rate, etc. Seeing these details, staff can make necessary decisions based on the requirements and safety of patients.

Waitlist Management

As discussed above, sometimes patients don’t appear for their booking or cancel their appointment at the last minute. This wastes staff’s valuable time and disturbs their schedule. However, a queue management system solves this problem by creating a waitlist, which helps fill empty appointments at the last moment.

3. For Admin

Detailed Operational Reports

The queue management system monitors every operation and provides detailed reports to the admin. The admin can study these reports to analyze where they are lacking and where improvements are needed, leading to increased operational efficiency and service quality.

Track Staff Performance

The admin can track their staff’s performance through a queue management system. They can see each employee’s working hours, shifts, holidays, patients attended, etc. Using these reports, the admin can reward the best, most deserving employees and train the weaker ones.

Positive Word-Of-Mouth

Queue management software development service improves patient experience and satisfaction for hospitals. It provides various advantages to simplify patients' journeys at hospitals, such as digital check-in, online booking, real-time updates, secure data, etc. This improves their experience and results in positive word-of-mouth.

Reduce Operational Costs

The system automates routine administrative tasks, eliminating the need to use different systems to simplify operations and reduce operational costs. For example, the QMS system provides digital tickets instead of paper tickets, which helps reduce paper costs.

Key Factors While Choosing Queue Management Software Development Services

Selecting the right queue management software development service is an important step that should be done under highly experienced developers.

Factors while Hiring an ideal queue management system development service

A. Different Customization Options

The software must provide several customization options, such as themes and logos, to match their brand identity.

B. Integration Capabilities

The software must provide smooth third-party integration capabilities to increase functionality and improve service quality.

C. Cost

Check whether the system charges per location or user. Look for a system that provides upgrading and downgrading packages.

D. 24-hour Customer Support

Ensure the system provides 24-hour customer support for smooth implementation and solutions for any technical errors.

Conclusion

At Suffescom, our dedicated designer and development team have years of experience in developing top-notch queue management systems for hospitals. We focus on understanding our client’s needs and provide their preferred customized solutions. Our commitment to excellence sets us apart from other companies in the market.

• Software Development
• Healthcare Software Cost
• Healthcare Industry