Can an app be used to reduce long wait times First of all wait times are an issue in the U S A Patients will have to wait longer for a checkup rather than a surgery or replacement Rosenthal 2014 para 7 8 This is especially bad for the old and frail who need need frequent monitoring so the condition does not deteriorate Rosenthal 2014 para 18 Also once it took 66 days to receive a physical in Boston Rosenthal 2014 para 4 Rosenthal 2014 has identified that if it takes too long to see a physical or checkup the patient s problems can fester and require more expensive treatment para 12 Wait times are important in saving the lives of patients and important in making them healthier Second of all wait times are an issue in Canada In 2014 Canadians could expect to wait 9 8 weeks for a medically necessary treatment Druzin 2016 para 12 The 9 8 weeks wait is 3 more weeks than what is considered clinically reasonable Druzin 2016 para 12 The wait times are so bad in Canada that 52 513 Canadians were seeking treatment in other countries making the other countries wait times even longer Druzin 2016 para 10 11
Canadians that don't have a family doctor are tending to visit the emergency room for unnecessary non urgent cases St Laurent 2017 para 4 These visits can prolong the wait time for people who actually need treatment making them sick or even killing them Druzin 2016 para 1 2 As you can see wait times in Canada are too prolonged causing unnecessary deaths Thirdly wait times are an issue internationally One family had pay 150 000 for their daughter who needed treatment for lyme disease out of the country due to the long wait times in their home country Tapp 2018 video The same family had to travel more than 1 200 miles to receive the treatment Tapp 2018 video A quarter of the patients in Sponaugle Wellness Institute in Tampa Bay are patients from Canada and Western Europe Tapp 2018 video A consequence of long wait times internationally is that patients from other countries are coming to the U S A to receive treatment while patients from the U S A are going to other countries for treatment There are many solutions targeted at reducing wait times some of them are found in the restaurant industry and some in the hospital industry An extension on Google Maps allows users to know about restaurant wait times through the real time anonymized data that comes from users that opted for Google Location History Perez 2017 para 1 2 The concept of using wait times on restaurants can be used on hospitals Patient Flow Analysis PFA was used in a study to reduce wait times in hospitals and the average decrease of wait times were around 23 minutes Potiseket et al 2007 para 3 The PFA was completed manually and it should be used on an interval basis Potisket et al 2007 para 18 Since the PFA was used manually it needs manpower and isn't very effective it could be redesigned to be automated as an app Santibáñez and his team used simulation to find if it can reduce wait times in hospitals and there was a reduction of up to 70 in wait times Santibáñez et al 2009 para 1
The simulation can be integrated into the app to help hospitals reduce their wait times As you can see there are already many solutions targeted at reducing wait times and some of them are found in the restaurant industry and some are found in the hospital industry These solutions can help make an app that reduces wait times in hospitals It has been shown that wait times are long at hospitals and an app can be used to reduce wait times Firstly wait times are an issue in the U S A potentially killing patients Secondly wait times are also an issue in Canada also potentially killing patients Thirdly the worldwide consequence of long wait times are the influx of patients to other countries Fourthly there are already many solutions targeted at reducing long wait times some of them are found in the restaurant industry and the hospital industry A possible answer to reduce long wait times is to create an app This research will be used to experiment with a possible solution to long wait times by creating an app
