Digital Versus Traditional Booking System for Clinical Appointments

February 25, 2022 updated by: Gaurav Gupta, Canadian Forces Health Services Centre Ottawa

A Pilot Study: Comparing Digital to Traditional Booking System for Clinical Appointments

In the Canadian Forces Health Services Ottawa clinical administrative resources are currently constrained, directly impacting workflow and patient care. Given the nature of the current EMR and digital health infrastructure, DBS is not currently being employed. Therefore, investigators sought to determine the relative benefit of using an online booking system when compared to TB. To the investigator's knowledge, validation of this type has not been conducted in this setting.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Introduction: The impact of digital booking systems (DBS) on clinical care, administrative efficiency and health care costs have not previously been explored in the Canadian Forces Health Services. No show rates were shown to be reduced by 6-42% percent compared to traditional booking (TB) depending on the system and the clinic. Therefore, investigators sought to determine the relative benefit of using an online booking system when compared to TB.

Methods: Main outcome variables included total time for booking all patients between groups including the start to end dates of each intervention, the number of hours spent on the phone / answering emails, and the number of phone calls and emails received, and the number of phone calls / emails regarding booking problems, cancellations, changes and no shows. Descriptive and mean comparative statistics will be used to determine any differences between groups.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

61

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J6L4
        • Canadian Forces Health Services Centre

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients referred to the Canadian Forces Health Services Centre for physical medicine and rehabilitation consultation.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients that have never been seen for new consultations

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Digital Booking
Patients bookings done through digital booking system.
Other: Appointment booking system
Patients were sent an email to book an appointment using the telephone/email versus a online booking system.
Traditional Booking
Patients bookings done through traditional booking like telephone or secure email.
Other: Appointment booking system
Patients were sent an email to book an appointment using the telephone/email versus a online booking system.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Total time for booking all patients
Time Frame: ~3 months
total time taken for DB and TB patients to be booked in a clinic time slot
~3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percent of Patients Booked
Time Frame: ~3 months
Percent of Patients Booked for each group
~3 months
Average Time Spent per Patient
Time Frame: ~3 months
Average Time Spent per Patient
~3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Canadian Forces Health Services Centre Ottawa

Collaborators

Canadian Department of National Defense

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Gaurav Gupta, MD, Canadian Forces Health Services Centre

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 1, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 11, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 25, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

March 8, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 8, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 25, 2022

Last Verified

February 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • E2021-11-048-008-0002

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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