Case Study: Centre for Orthopaedics

The Challenge

Centre for Orthopaedics is the region’s largest, independently owned musculoskeletal group, offering a comprehensive range of services for patients of all ages. With a catchment area of 300,000 people, the Centre has grown from 10,000 visits to 47,000 in the past two years and from four specialist providers to 12, making the management of patient flow an increasingly challenging issue.

The Solution

Q-Flow was installed at the Centre. On arrival, the patient collects a ticket from one of six kiosks installed at reception, and is placed in a virtual queue. A map of the building is printed on the back of each ticket to help patients find their way around the Centre. The patient scheduling technology extends beyond queue management to enable surgeons and other hospital staff to accurately monitor the time they spend with each patient, to improve patient scheduling and reduce waiting times. Surgeons and other staff can check appointment schedules and patient flow remotely from a smart phone, bringing a new level of accessibility to the healthcare industry.

Q-Flow is integrated into the patient management system used to track medical history and patient records. Patients can also use Q-Flow to remotely check-in for their appointment via a web based portal on the Centre’s website.

The Results

“Q-Flow has helped us to focus on providing patient-centred, not doctor-centred care,” Dr Noble said. “It’s not a replacement for face to face interaction, but rather a way for us to drastically improve our patient flow and appointment scheduling, enabling us to spend more time with patients to recapture the personal aspect of the service, which has been lost in some areas of health care.”

Q-Flow has also benefited medical staff by allowing them to remotely monitor appointment schedules from a smart phone. In fact, the Centre’s use of technology has been key to attracting and retaining highly qualified medical staff. “Our aim is to provide the highest level of patient care possible so it’s critical that we attract the best medical staff to the Centre.”