Development of Self-Registration Kiosk in Hospital and Performance Evaluation Using Queueing Theory

Abstract

Digital technologies are currently being widely implemented in hospitals. Hospitals with limited resources can develop their own service technologies to enhance service efficiency. The purpose of this study was to develop a self-registration kiosk at Mae Fah Luang University Hospital, Chiang Rai Province, and to assess its effectiveness through the application of queuing theory. The quasi-experimental study began with creating an automatic check-up program known as the Institute of Thai-Chinese Traditional Medicine, Mae Fah Luang Hospital (ITCM), designed to interface with the database system and facilitate the verification of treatment entitlement for Mae Fah Luang University Hospital service users. The service efficiency of the conventional medical records counter and the ITCM Kiosk were evaluated using secondary data from the hospital information system, including waiting time, service time, and the number of patients. Data from both systems were collected over three consecutive working days between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM. System performance was analyzed using queueing theory, and differences were assessed using a paired sample t-test. The findings indicate that the ITCM Kiosk significantly enhanced service efficiency relative to the conventional process (p<0.05) and resulted in a substantial cost reduction of 69.8%. It also reduced queueing indicators, including the average number of patients in the system, the average number of patients in the queue, and the average waiting time in the queue, by 45–60%, although these decreases were not statistically significant. Therefore, the ITCM Kiosk was found to significantly reduce service costs and had potential to improve service efficiency by increasing speed and reducing waiting times. These findings suggest its feasibility for implementation in hospitals with resource constraints.