Development of Ward Visitor Management System in the COVID-19 Epidemic

The purpose of this study was to design, develop, and deploy a visitor management system (VMS) to effectively manage visitors during COVID-19. The VMS was designed using the User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology. The iterative process of UCD includes 3 interviews and 5 usability tests and cognitive walkthrough cycles. This system comprised six parts: the WEB server provides visit scheduling service; the database server stores visit data and provides visit data services; the mobile application server provides security checks and scanning services; the electronic medical record (EMR) server provides ward data service; the Internet application gateway provides health code data service and exchanges health code data with the Sichuan Tianfu Health Code platform, and the service bus enables the centralized exchange and integration of visit data. The visit management system optimizes the workflow of ward visitors, improves staff productivity, and reduces the risk of infection transmission.