IT self-service applications in polyclinics: a model for the improvement of the patient-treatment process

Abstract

Information technology has become essential in supporting growth and sustainability of many types of organizations, including healthcare organizations. These organizations can improve its processes and patient flow. However, IT in the hospital sector can be considered underdeveloped when compared to other sectors. For this reason, an analysis of the healthcare system is useful, mainly with the goal of minimizing the cost of healthcare and maximizing the quality of the patient’s processes. In this paper, our aim was to present a framework showing the applicability of IT self-servicing app in patient’s treatment. The framework is structured by five types of self-servicing IT apps and eight patient’s processes steps, settled in a Polyclinic Cardiology. Our results affirm that self-servicing IT apps are applicable both for medical staff and for the patient’s satisfaction and treatment, from the “information help desk” step to the "patient check-out". Our work could contribute for implementations and suggestions in future research. In fact, in a increasingly digitalized world, the healthcare sector has a great growth and improvement potential to receive thanks to IT.