Hospitals turn to Internet to fight emergency room wait times

Patients who log on to the website for Calgarys hospitals are offered a surprising choice these days wait times for four emergency departments across the city posted automatically 247 in real time

A hospital in the Southern Ontario city of Kitchener has just become the first in that province to launch its own enhanced version of the same idea amid predictions the consumeroriented service will soon spread throughout the healthcare system A smartphone app for the Kitchener facility is coming soon

Administrators argue the online information should help patients better decide where to seek out medical aid spur staff to improve service and one day even fuel competition between hospitals under new demandbased funding models

Having our wait times out there warts and all is certainly a motivator said Don Shilton president of St Marys General Hospital in Kitchener What were trying to do is to inform consumers Our view is information is power

Date : 18 Apr, 2012
Reference : http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/17/hospitals-turn-to-internet-to-fight-emergency-room-wait-time

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