St. Mary’s Hospital Unveils Web-based ER Wait Times Page
Posted Apr 11, 2012 12:40:06 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s been a year in the making but on Wednesday St. Mary’s General Hospital finally unveiled its Real Time Emergency Department Wait Times page on its website smgh.ca
The application is the first of its kind in Ontario and only the second to be used by a hospital in Canada.
Hospital President Don Shilton says the web-based application will be for patients who have discretion on when they can visit the emergency room at St. Mary’s. He says up until now patients really had no clue as to how long they could be waiting before heading to the emergency department
The app let’s patients know, in 20 minute increments, how many patients are currently being treated in the ER, how many are waiting and most importantly what that estimated wait time is. Shilton says the feature will empower patients to make decisions on where, if, or when they go to get care.
Other information on the page includes a graph showing how service is trending, like whether or not the department is going to get busier over the 6 hours, and what service has been like in the past 24 hours. On the right side, is a list of alternatives to ER service, including a number of local urgent care clinics
Shilton says they’ll be monitoring the page closely over the coming weeks and months to measure whether patients are really changing their habits and it’s hoped eventually it will lead to shorter or better wait times.
The software application was developed by Oculys, a company originally setup by the hospital’s foundation. Shilton says the software could be sold to other interested hospitals and any revenues would go back into improving care for local residents.
CEO of the Waterloo Wellington LHIN Bruce Laukner calls the application “ground-breaking”.
