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Enhancing Pediatric Outpatient Medical Services Through the Implementation of the Smart Well Child Center Application
Naporn Uengarporn1,2, Teerapat Saengthongpitag2, Poonyanuch Chongjaroenjai2
1School of Pediatrics, Institute of Medicine, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand.
Insights
The Smart Well Child Center app improves pediatric care access by addressing caregiver challenges like wait times and travel costs. This digital innovation significantly boosts caregiver satisfaction with healthcare services.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Pediatric Healthcare
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Caregivers face significant barriers accessing pediatric healthcare services.
- Challenges include financial burdens, long wait times, and service accessibility issues.
- Digital innovations are needed to enhance pediatric outpatient care efficiency and accessibility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design, implement, and pilot evaluate the Smart Well Child Center application.
- To integrate digital solutions within the Pediatric Outpatient Department.
- To assess the application's impact on caregiver experience and healthcare access.
Main Methods:
- A mixed-methods research approach was utilized.
- The Smart Well Child Center application was developed using the system development life cycle (SDLC).
- A satisfaction survey of 85 child caregivers evaluated the application's real-world effectiveness, with data analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential tests (paired t-test, repeated measures ANOVA).
Main Results:
- Caregivers experience challenges such as travel costs, extended wait times, and service access difficulties.
- The application features a pre-consultation self-assessment module for evaluations and recommendations.
- The application achieved high performance ratings (4.06 ± 0.77) and significantly increased caregiver satisfaction (4.58 ± 0.57 immediately, 4.59 ± 0.33 one month post-implementation).
Conclusions:
- Full adoption of the Smart Well Child Center application is recommended to enhance healthcare accessibility and reduce patient wait times.
- The study highlights the potential of digital tools in improving pediatric care delivery.
- Future research should investigate the long-term effects on patient and healthcare professional outcomes and system usability.
Background:
Caregivers of children often encounter barriers when accessing pediatric healthcare services. These challenges highlight the need for digital innovations to improve accessibility and efficiency in pediatric outpatient care.
Objectives:
This study aimed to design, implement, and pilot evaluate the Smart Well Child Center application in conjunction with enhancements to the Pediatric Outpatient Department.
Methods:
This study employs a mixed-methods research approach. The application was developed following the system development life cycle (SDLC) process, and its performance was subsequently evaluated. Additionally, its effectiveness in real-world settings was assessed through a satisfaction survey completed by 85 child caregivers. The results were summarized using the mean and standard deviation, and satisfaction levels were compared using paired t-test and repeated measures ANOVA.
Results:
The findings reveal that caregivers face significant challenges, including financial burdens related to travel, prolonged wait times, and difficulties accessing healthcare services. In response, the application was designed to incorporate key functionalities. Within the pre-consultation self-assessment module, caregivers can complete evaluations and receive recommendations directly through the application. Furthermore, the service procedure flowchart was restructured to seamlessly integrate these digital innovations, thereby enhancing the overall healthcare experience. The evaluation results indicate that the application achieved high performance ratings across all assessed dimensions (4.06 ± 0.77). Additionally, caregivers reported a substantial increase in satisfaction levels both immediately after implementation (4.58 ± 0.57) and one month afterward (4.59 ± 0.33).
Conclusions:
Given these findings, it is recommended that the hospital fully adopt the Smart Well Child Center application to improve healthcare accessibility and reduce patient wait times. Future research should assess the long-term impact of the intervention on both caregiver outcomes and healthcare professional workflow, satisfaction, and system usability, to inform broader implementation strategies.
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