Sault Area Hospital Launches Virtual Home Waiting Room Pilot

Sault Area Hospital has introduced a new pilot program aimed at alleviating crowding in its emergency department by allowing patients with non-urgent medical conditions to wait at home. The initiative, named the Virtual Home Waiting Room, seeks to enhance patient experience and improve operational efficiency by scheduling arrival times for individuals presenting with minor ailments.

Reducing Emergency Department Wait Times

Patients registered in the program can sign up online and enter a virtual queue, receiving text updates regarding their status until they are notified to come to the hospital. According to Dr. Stephen Smith, an emergency department physician and the hospital’s vice-president of medical affairs, the approach addresses the unpredictable nature of emergency care that often results in long wait times for those with less severe health issues.

“The emergency room is a very unpredictable environment, and our priority is always the highest acuity patients,” said Dr. Smith. “We don’t want low-acuity patients to have to wait a large amount of time in our waiting rooms because they can be very crowded. Crowding, as we know from the pandemic, can lead to a greater risk for infection and decreases patient satisfaction.”

How the Virtual Home Waiting Room Operates

The pilot program, available to patients older than three months who possess a device capable of receiving SMS texts, is specifically tailored for individuals with minor medical complaints. Patients can log onto the hospital’s website, check their eligibility, and join the virtual queue.

“They’ll receive hourly notifications acknowledging their wait, followed by an alert when it’s time to proceed to the emergency room,” Dr. Smith explained. He clarified that the program does not allow patients to skip ahead in line. “When they’re told to come to the emergency room, that is the most opportune time to minimize their wait,” he noted. “But it’s not an opportunity to skip the existing queue.”

The initiative has been in development for approximately two years and is currently limited to 10 patients per day. Early results appear promising, with participants reporting an average wait time of just one hour at home before proceeding to the emergency department. Dr. Smith shared that the average wait time in the emergency room remains around three hours.

Hospital officials have drawn inspiration from similar concepts in other industries and are actively seeking feedback from users to refine the system. Dr. Smith expressed optimism that the pilot could be expanded beyond its current scope. “This is a pilot. We’re using it for a small number of patients, just 10 patients a day initially,” he stated. “We would love to see something like this roll out into the community and engage some of our community partners in the future.”

With this innovative approach, Sault Area Hospital aims not only to streamline emergency care but also to enhance the overall experience for both patients and staff, paving the way for potential future implementations in other healthcare settings.