Wireless Tagging Solutions to Measure Wait Times

Within the organization, delays were occurring in the Hematology lab while patients waited for bloods to be drawn. These delays, which were recorded manually, resulted in complaints to the organization. One of the goals of the patient navigation program is to collect data in ‘real-time’ e.g. as it happens. This is difficult to do manually and there are few electronic solutions that can be used. The patient navigation team decided to take a month long review of the Hematology Lab activity using wireless tags. This is novel way to track patient activity using the organizations wireless network. It is more reliable than using manual data entry and the organization can even view where the tags are in the building. Each patient was issued a ‘tag’ which was activated when the patient arrived and deactivated when the patient left using the wireless system at MacCharles. The study indicated increased pressures on the lab following a day of closure (following long weekends) resulting in recommendations to improve the flow within the lab. In addition to the recommendations that have already been implemented to improve processes in the Hematology lab, renovations and increasing the number of chairs are also being discussed. When all recommendations are fully implemented further data on delays in the Hematology lab will be collected using the wireless tagging system. This will identify if the implemented changes resulted in reductions in wait times and delays. This system is also being implemented in Chemotherapy to review the effectiveness of the scheduling template, clinic capacity, demand and activity. Wireless tagging solutions is a cost effective and accurate method that allows the organization to continually monitor and measure delays to determine whether or not the process changes are having a positive impact.