Digitalizing medical appointments in primary care: a case study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61347/rcem.v1i1.e2Keywords:
Digital scheduling, primary care, health digitalization, operational efficiency, user experienceAbstract
The growing interest in optimizing appointment scheduling processes in primary care has driven the adoption of digital systems that seek to improve flow management along with the experience of users and professionals. This study aimed to analyze the impact of digital transformation on the scheduling of medical appointments in a primary care center. To this end, a mixed case design was used that combined the quantitative analysis of the scheduling records of the last 30 days with a qualitative analysis based on the results of a survey applied to 19 professionals using a Likert scale questionnaire, whose internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The results indicate that the system covered three key areas: outpatient consultation, therapeutic support and support processes. High levels of usability and interface were achieved, as well as acceptable levels of perceived efficiency and reliability. In addition, all respondents would recommend the application for implementation in similar contexts. However, significant variations in perceived wait time were observed between specialties, suggesting opportunities for improvement. In conclusion, the system efficiently centralizes operational management and has a high acceptance by the staff, which favors the optimization of care processes in the health center.
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