Medical data integration using HL7 standards for patient's early identification

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Information Systems Engineering
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Healthcare interoperability is crucial for patient data confidentiality, safety, and satisfaction.
• Efficient patient flow management is essential in outpatient departments to minimize waiting times.
• Existing systems often lack seamless integration, leading to delays in patient identification and processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate an integrated solution combining Queue Management Solution (QMS) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR).
• To facilitate patient self-check-in using Health Level Seven (HL7) protocols and Extensible Markup Language (XML) in UAE healthcare facilities.
• To reduce patient waiting times and improve overall patient journey efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Developed an integrated system linking QMS and EMR using HL7 and custom XML messages.
• Designed a patient self-check-in process for early identification of patients with Emirates national ID cards.
• Conducted a simulation experiment comparing routine identification with self-check-in over control and intervention weeks with 517 appointments.

Main Results:

• The proposed integrated solution significantly reduced patient journey time by over 14 minutes.
• Patient identification time was decreased by approximately 10 minutes.
• Observed significant reductions in waiting time to triage and triage completion time.

Conclusions:

• The integrated QMS and EMR system with self-check-in is an efficient and innovative solution for healthcare settings.
• The solution offers positive added value by improving the patient's overall experience and reducing wait times.
• This approach enhances operational efficiency in outpatient departments, particularly in the UAE context.