Pathology Queensland

Pathology Queensland reduces average wait time by 25%

EVA Check-in helps manage wait times for 36 busy pathology collection centres.

Rosemary Scott

Sharing real world user stories

Challenge:

  • Lumpy demand meant long waits for collections

Solution:

  • Offer their patients bookable testing appointments
  • Send email appointment reminders to patients

Results:

  • Decreased wait time by 25%.

‍

Pathology Queensland

In the three months since introducing EVA Check-in, collections have continued to increase whilst wait times have decreased by 25%.

Shay Bosworth

THE CHALLENGE

Smoothing out lumpy demand

As the largest provider of pathology services in Queensland, Pathology Queensland (PQ) has a network of over 36 laboratories based at hospitals throughout the state. Part of Queensland Health, PQ prides itself on providing a tailored service to the needs of each hospital and health service. Today this patient-led pathology team boasts over 2000 staff across these locations.

With the Covid-19 pandemic and growth in patient numbers, waiting times for patients had continued to increase, with a number experiencing waits of over 1 hour. Shay Bosworth, Supervising Scientist at Queensland Pathology, could see that this was quickly becoming an issue. Shay set about finding a solution that could flatten out the high-demand peaks, which were often at the start of the day. This would then reduce patient wait times and staff stress while meeting service demand.

Pathology Queensland

THE SOLUTION

A better customer experience

Pathology Queensland

Shay had used the EVA Check-in visitor management platform as part of Queensland Health’s approach to Covid-19 tracing in the early days of the pandemic. So, when he learned about EVA Check-in’s online booking functionality, which could be used for different scenarios, like hot desking, capacity management, carpark booking and appointments, Shay was determined to implement it.

Shay initially set up one site with EVA Check-in’s self-booking capability. Patients use a QR code to go to PQ’s booking web portal, enter their details, and choose their preferred appointment time. Once the system confirms the booking, an email is sent to the patient with all the relevant information.

It gives his patients the ability to book their testing slot at the most convenient time. For many patients, the ability to select a quiet time for their testing is a significant advantage - especially those with compromised immune systems.

Patients are comfortable using the portal as it is fully branded with Pathology Queensland’s logo and bespoke messaging outlining how the booking process works. This all provides appropriate reassurance to the patients that the site is genuine.

On the administration front, Shay can customize how many bookable appointments there are for each time slot and make any day unbookable if they are short-staffed or a public holiday and weekends. Shay comments "What I like is that it has such a low-touch admin model. I have set it up for the next six months, and I doubt I’ll need to adjust a thing. It just ticks on without me."

THE RESULTS

Changing old habits one patient at a time

Shay acknowledges that the labs have an educational journey on their hands. They are making patients aware that their service, which traditionally is a walk-in service, also has bookable testing slots one patient at a time. Although this is a slow process, the patients with regular testing are all fully on board and the numbers are growing week to week.

Shay is delighted with how it is working out: “We introduced EVA Check-in at a time when collections were increasing and wait times were blowing out to unacceptable levels. In the three months since introducing EVA Check-in, collections have continued to increase whilst wait times have decreased by 25%. We expect the benefits to grow hand in hand with adoption. This is a win-win for us.”

Pathology Queensland

In the three months since introducing EVA Check-in, collections have continued to increase whilst wait times have decreased by 25%. We expect the benefits to grow hand in hand with adoption.

‍

Shay Bosworth, Supervising Scientist, Queensland Pathology

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