Digital doorway for A&E
A 'digital' front door is delivering significant benefits for patients, staff and the wider organisation by helping create a faster, safer and more streamlined experience for people attending A&E at Northwick Park Hospital.
Patient Check-In, which has been developed by Streamwave, allows patients to use their mobile phone to scan a QR code and digitally check-in.
They answer a short series of questions allowing them to register electronically on the hospital's computer system without queuing at reception.
Chris Nordstrom, an A&E consultant at Northwick Park who helped design Patient Check-In, said: “Patients traditionally queue at reception and provide front-of-desk staff with details about why they've come to A&E which is then manually entered into a PC. This whole process can often take an hour during peak times leaving patients frustrated and staff spending a huge amount of time on manual admin tasks.
“Patients can now scan a QR code using their own mobile phone as soon as they arrive. They are guided through a straightforward registration and initial triage process, with the information entered electronically into our hospital systems. This removes the need for many patients to queue at the reception desk and gives them a faster, smoother and more comfortable way to register.”
The registration process includes an initial clinical triage helping staff identify potentially unwell or higher-risk patients sooner.
Chris added: “Successful digital transformation isn't about introducing technology for technology's sake. It is about identifying the things that frustrate patients and staff, redesigning those processes and using technology where it can genuinely make care safer, faster and more efficient.”
More than 6,700 patients have completed Patient Check-In since the service was launched a few weeks ago with around two-thirds of walk-in patients using the digital registration process.
To date, the programme has also delivering substantial operational benefits saving around 314 hours of administrative time by reducing manual data entry and repetitive registration tasks. In July alone, more than 4,300 patients completed self-registration, releasing approximately 203 hours of administrative time.
The success of the Digital Front Door at Northwick Park demonstrates how thoughtfully designed digital technology can improve patient experience and safety while also increasing productivity and operational efficiency.
The model will soon be introduced at Ealing Hospital as part of the Trust's wider digital transformation programme, helping to create a more consistent, efficient and patient-centred registration experience across both sites.