Improving patients’ experience concerning insufficient informational flow to patients during COVID-19 pandemic: Case study of a traditional Chinese medicine clinic

ABSTRACT

Objective

To improve patients’ experience concerning insufficient informational flow to patients waiting at the dispensary station – case study of a traditional Chinese medicine clinic.

Method

The service system was explored via qualitative techniques such as interviews and constructing the customer journey map. Then, experience and operational issues were defined through experience ratings at each touchpoint, patient interviews, and root cause analysis. The solution was identified via brainstorming and prototyping. A prescription tracking system was proposed with a finish time estimation algorithm.

Results

The overall satisfaction score at the dispensary station, comparing before-after system implementation in 2019, was increased 37% from the average score of 3.27 to 4.47 using 5-point Likert scales. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the waiting time estimation model that included the buffer time (upper bound at 95%) is 52%.

Conclusion

This methodology, which included both patient experience and operational improvement viewpoints, could successfully improve both the patient experience and the related operation system at its critical touchpoints. Moreover, the data from the prescription tracking system could be used to estimate the number of patients waiting in the system, allowing the clinic to better manage its waiting space and capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Customer experience
• tracking system
• waiting time
• COVID-19 pandemic
• service improvement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Arisara Jiamsanguanwong

Arisara Jiamsanguanwong is an assistant professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2013. Her current research interests include usability engineering, human factor and ergonomics, system improvement, service support technology, and human-system integration.

Chayapol Ophaswongse

Chayapol Ophaswongse is a senior undergraduate student at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. His interests include service system design and improvement, data science, and organization and people management.

Chaianan Chansirinthorn

Chaianan Chansirithorn is a senior undergraduate student at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. His interests include information technology, robotic process automation, and data science.

Narun Kitirattragarn

Narun Kitirattragarn is a senior undergraduate student at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. His interests include logistics and supply chain management, information technology, operation management, and economics.

Oran Kittithreerapronchai

Oran Kittithreerapronchai is an associate professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. In addition to the traditional industrial and systems engineering, his research interests include large scale optimization, warehousing management, supply chain management, and computational algorithms.