Evaluation of an intelligent inpatient transportation system in a large tertiary hospital: a full implementation case...

Reliable inpatient transportation is a critical component of hospital operations and clinical workflow. As demand increases, traditional manual transport systems often struggle to meet service expectations. In response, our institution implemented an information technology-based inpatient transportation platform aimed at improving dispatch coordination and workflow integration.

We conducted a retrospective, descriptive analysis of a hospital-wide implementation of an intelligent inpatient transportation platform integrated with the electronic medical record and mobile devices at Quzhou Hospital, China. The system was launched in June 2022. All completed inpatient transportation requests between August 31 and September 30, 2024 were included. Operational characteristics, transport time metrics, safety indicators, and user satisfaction were summarized without a comparator group.

A total of 15,543 completed transportation requests were analyzed. Mean transport times varied across departments, with the shortest average times in the ophthalmology and gynecology (34.78 and 34.94 min, respectively). The shortest intervals between scheduled and actual delivery times were observed in hand and foot surgery and in trauma orthopedics/emergency care (-44.86 and -34.91 min, respectively). No misidentification events were reported during the study period. Overall user satisfaction with the transportation service was 90%, with particularly high ratings for perceived service quality and timeliness.

This retrospective implementation case study describes the operational performance, safety profile, and user-reported satisfaction associated with an intelligent inpatient transportation platform in a large tertiary hospital. While these descriptive findings suggest acceptable system functionality and feasibility, further prospective and comparative studies are needed to assess associations with clinical outcomes, efficiency benchmarks, and patient-centered measures.