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DOI: 10.1055/a-2576-7110
Mobile Admission Process and Administrative Turnaround Time for Hospitalization of Outpatients: A Retrospective Study
Funding This research was supported by a grant from the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant number: RS-2023-KH134974).
Abstract
Objectives
This study compared the time efficiency of the hospital admission process using personal mobile devices to traditional walk-in methods, thereby assessing the effectiveness of the mobile admission process.
Methods
This retrospective study was conducted at Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital in South Korea (August 2022–January 2023). Turnaround times for the walk-in and mobile admission processes were compared. Patients were divided into mobile and walk-in groups based on their admission process. Collected timestamp data were extracted by examining patients' electronic medical record log time or caregivers' electronic signatures on consent forms. Time intervals between timestamp data were calculated and compared.
Results
We enrolled 4,344 patients to compare the turnaround time and demographics of the mobile (n = 1,336) and walk-in (n = 3,008) admission processes. The former had a significantly shorter mean turnaround time (13.4 minutes) than the latter (22.2 minutes). Female patients, younger patients, and those admitted to surgery departments were more likely to use the mobile process. Older patients were less likely to undergo mobile admissions. A linear regression analysis revealed that these factors significantly affected the usability of the mobile device admission process.
Conclusion
Compared with the traditional walk-in admission process, the mobile admission process can reduce task completion time.
Protection of Human and Animal Subjects
This study was performed in compliance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects and was reviewed and approved by the IRB of Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital (approval number CAUGH 2304–077–041). All methods were performed following relevant guidelines and regulations. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Publication History
Received: 25 November 2024
Accepted: 03 April 2025
Accepted Manuscript online:
09 April 2025
Article published online:
14 August 2025
© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Georg Thieme Verlag KG
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