Automated patient check-in for Gold Coast Health

Gold Coast Health has launched an automated patient check-in system across its five busiest departments at the Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH). The check-in system is part of the Q-Flow patient optimisation framework that includes a series of kiosks that patients use to register their presence on arrival, as well as a backend patient management system that organises patient records.

Demand for Gold Coast Health’s services is only increasing, with growth in the number of total patients being seen in clinics across the city going from 699,000 in 2014–15 to 835,000 in 2015–16.

Gold Coast Health has partnered with patient flow management software specialist NEXA to integrate Q-Flow with GCUH’s core systems. The system is helping to eliminate patient queues, while capturing critical performance data from many of the hospital’s departments.

Since its introduction last year, GCUH has seen appointment confirmation rates increase by 80% and a reduction in ‘fail to attend’ patients.

Gold Coast Health Acting Data Quality Manager Jessica Bevan said the framework has integrated patient, clinician, nursing and administration needs. It has dramatically improved the department’s communication and management of patient flow, creating a more engaged experience for staff and patients.

“The system allows our staff to achieve more while also providing patients with greater insight into their visit without added complexity or effort,” she said.

“In the past, process flow had been an issue, with standing queues often stretching past 20 minutes. The new arrival process now takes only seconds, allowing patients to relax in our waiting rooms knowing that they’re in the system and will soon be looked after,” she said.

And rather than patient names being called out over busy rooms of 200+ people, the new framework addresses privacy concerns with each patient receiving a discrete ticket number upon registration.