Online Scheduling System for Doctors and Patients – Comprehensive Study Notes

Abstract

Outpatient department (OPD) treats non-urgent patients; traditionally exposed to long queues and congestion.
Aim: Develop an online scheduling system allowing patients to view doctors’ availability, book appointments, and minimize waiting time.
Benefits: Reduces on-site crowding, lets doctors see daily case load, improves overall efficiency.
Keywords: outpatient department, appointment system, waiting time, special situations, online scheduling.

Introduction

Pandemic context: Lockdowns, social distancing (≈ $1\text{ m}$ ), and prohibition of mass gatherings intensified the need for remote healthcare services.
Vulnerable groups (≤ $21$ or ≥ $60$ years, immunocompromised) restricted from leaving homes—online scheduling mitigates exposure.
Traditional walk-in model → early arrival “to be first,” causing pre-opening congestion.
Further delays from late-arriving physicians and variable consultation lengths.

Waiting-Time Literature & Benchmarks

Long waits = stress + deterrent to seeking care.
Oche & Adamu study: Causes—high patient load, few doctors/clerks; simulation proved scheduling reduces waits.
Institute of Medicine guideline: $90\%$ of patients must be seen within $30$ minutes.

Research Objectives

Patient capabilities: online booking, diagnosis/e-prescription viewing, PayMaya/GCash payments, SMS reminders.
Doctor capabilities: access patient e-records, input diagnosis/e-prescriptions.
Global goal: improve waiting time and convenience.

Extensive Literature Review

E-Healthcare: Child Monitoring Health System (CHMS)

Stores child records; limits $10$ bookings/day; SMS alerts; health-tip module; printable reports.

Web-Based Patient Appointment System

Replaces manual registration; reduces redundancy and errors; allows pre-visit info sharing; focuses on quality, cost, and wait-time reduction.

OPD Waiting Time & Satisfaction (Pune)

Tertiary Hospital (120 beds): Avg. OPD time $60$ min; $40$ min wait for consult; $33\%$ waited $30$ – $60$ min, $32\%$ > $60$ min → dissatisfaction.

Cross-Platform Automated Appointment Reminder

Uses IoT & smartphones; digital recording saves $2.7$ min vs paper; six key functions; user satisfaction $4.11/5$ .

Smart Appointment Reservation System

Fully online, paperless, SMS updates for confirmation/delays, feedback loop.

Commercial Systems & Feature Gap

The Filipino Doctor, KonsultaMD, SeeYouDoc, Makati Medical Center, iCliniq: provide partial sets of features (e.g., some have e-prescriptions, some have payment), but none cover all six core functions.
Proposed system fills all gaps: hospital appointment, doctor list, e-prescription, e-records, SMS, online payment.

Methodology

Research & Development (R&D)

Patient survey (N= $65$ ): $46.2\%$ wait $1$ – $2$ h; $96.9\%$ prefer shorter waiting.
Doctor survey (N= $6$ ): Consult times $10.83$ – $30.83$ min (shorter than patient wait).

Research Design & Locale

Experimental quantitative study at Unihealth-Parañaque Hospital & Medical Center (Metro Manila).
Respondents: $1$ doctor, $2$ staff, $12$ patients.

Instrument & SUS Formula

System Usability Scale (SUS) with 10 items.
$X=\sum(\text{odd Q})-5,$ $Y=25-\sum(\text{even Q}),$ $SUS=(X+Y)\times2.5$ .

Results

COVID-19 limited on-site testing; system demoed remotely.
Test group ages: $20$ – $61$ years.
Individual SUS scores: $62.5$ – $100$ ; aggregate $\sum=1192.5$ ; mean $\bar{S}=79.5$ → Grade B (“Good”).
Qualitative feedback: intuitive, minimal confusion, friendly for non-tech-savvy users.
Enhancements post-test: added “History of Illness” & “Personal History” to medical records.

Discussion & Significance

Meets Institute of Medicine benchmark goal of sub- $30$ min service by flattening arrival peaks.
Aligns with queuing-theory and IS principles—scheduled arrivals, data centralization, real-time access.
Pandemic relevance: lowers infection risk by limiting on-site overlap.
Staff efficiency: automatic daily-appointment counts, faster record access.
Finance: seamless PayMaya/GCash integration; plan to expand to cards.

Ethical, Philosophical, & Practical Considerations

Data privacy compliance (Philippine DPA); secure storage & transmission of e-records.
Accessibility: large-font design, simple navigation for elders.
Equity: maintain alternative phone scheduling for non-internet users.
Reliability: redundancy for SMS gateway & payment APIs; graceful downtime handling.

Numeric & Statistical Highlights

$90\%$ ≤ $30$ min service target.
Pune study: $60$ -min total, $40$ -min consult wait.
Patient survey: $46.2\%$ wait $1$ – $2$ h; $96.9\%$ desire reduction.
$2.7$ -min saving per record (cross-platform study).
SUS grading: A > $80.3$ , B $68$ – $80.3$ , C $68$ , D $51$ – $68$ , F < $51$ .

Conclusions & Future Directions

Online scheduling system rated “Good” (SUS $79.5$ ); expected to modernize OPD operations and cut waiting time.
Planned upgrades: credit/debit card support, scheduling for radiology/lab services (CT, MRI, Ultrasound, etc.), online lab-result viewing.