Barriers and Facilitators to Automated Self-Scheduling: Consensus from a Delphi Panel of Key Stakeholders

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Health Informatics
• Technology Adoption

Background:

• Automated self-scheduling offers potential benefits to healthcare organizations but faces slow adoption rates.
• Understanding organizational determinants is crucial for successful implementation of self-scheduling solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a consensus statement on organizational-level determinants influencing the success of self-scheduling implementation.
• To identify key barriers and facilitators for healthcare organizations adopting self-scheduling technology.

Main Methods:

• A modified Delphi method involving three stages was employed.
• A panel of 53 experts from 41 academic health systems participated in surveys over three rounds.
• Consensus was reached based on 80% agreement and an interquartile range (IQR) <1.

Main Results:

• Experts identified 10 top determinants (seven facilitators, three barriers) for self-scheduling implementation.
• Patient convenience emerged as the leading facilitator for organizations to adopt self-scheduling.
• A rank-ordered list of determinants was established based on expert consensus.

Conclusions:

• The consensus statement provides valuable insights for healthcare organizations and technology suppliers.
• Addressing identified barriers and leveraging facilitators can improve the successful adoption of self-scheduling technology.
• Further research is recommended to explore the interactions between specific barriers and facilitators.