The Reduction of Hospital Overcrowding and Waiting Time for Laboratory Testing at Pakchongnana Hospital

Abstract

       Over the past 3 years, the number of patients at Pakchongnana Hospital increased by 3.9% each year on average, resulting to a higher workload in all departments, insufficient service areas and facilities, overcrowding and an increased risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As there were complaints from both inpatients and outpatients about the long turnaround time (TAT) for laboratory results, the research team undertook this project to reduce overcrowding and TAT in all aspects. The performance was assessed by using time-stamp data received from the laboratory information system. Inaddition a client satisfaction survey was carried out using a questionnaire, both paper and online, before and after project implementation. The results showed that, after phases 1 and 2 of implementation, the clinical chemistry section’s TAT was improved dramatically by 16.9% and 10.7% respectively while the TAT for all laboratory tests was improved by 11.8% and 12.1% respectively. Concerning client satisfaction, before and after the implementation, the average scores increased 6.1% from 69.0 to 73.5. Thus, the results of this study could be used for further system development and applied for the assessment various technologies brought into the hospital to enhance continuously its efficiency