Developing Appointment Scheduling System and Patient Preparation Protocols for Pediatric Patients Undergoing ASSR Examination in the Outpatient ENT Department of Sawanpracharuk Hospital, Nakhonsawan Province.

Abstract

Objective: To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an appointment and preparation system for pediatric patients undergoing Auditory Steady-State Response (ASSR) test at Sawanpracharak Hospital’s otolaryngology department.

Methods: There were two groups of participants in this action research: 8 healthcare providers and 60 pediatric patient caregivers. The healthcare providers, including nurses, audiologists, medical scientists, patient assistants, and medical officers, had at least one year of experience in managing the pediatric ASSR appointment system. The research tools were (1) data entry forms of an appointment system, (2) questionnaire about healthcare providers and pediatric patient caregivers’opinion on structure, process, and outcome of ASSR appointments system, (3) an assessment form for chloral hydrate administration in pediatric ASSR test, and (4) brochures with QR code-linked for 2D animation cartoon on pediatric patient preparation for ASSR test.

Results: The appointment and preparation system was improved by increasing the daily testing capacity by two patients, implementing reminder calls, rescheduling missed appointments, and providing preparation guidelines through brochures and QR codes. Additionally, an assessment form for chloral hydrate administration was introduced. These interventions increased the patient attendance rate from 23.3% to 70.0% and reduced the appointment waiting period from 8 months to 6 months. Furthermore, healthcare providers and pediatric patient caregivers expressed statistically significantly higher satisfaction levels (p-value< .05).

Conclusion: The development of an appointment and preparation system for pediatric patients undergoing ASSR test increased the number of patient attendance, shortened the period of waiting, and improved healthcare providers’ and pediatric patient caregivers’ satisfaction.

Keywords: ASSR, Otolaryngology department, pediatric patient caregivers