Can queue management systems be a cure-all ?

Queue management systems are an easy-to-use technology that has been successfully applied in places such as banks and airports. They are widely applied in blood collection units as the first solution that comes to mind. But could queue management systems be a solution to the problems in blood collection units? That is what we consider in this blog.

25% - 30% of outpatients benefit from routine blood collection services every day. This rate means hundreds of patients for a medium-sized hospital and more than a thousand for larger hospitals. Queue management systems bring order to patient flow.

However, blood collection units have needs beyond bringing order to the flow. Blood collection units are the source of pre-analytical errors that cause the vast majority of laboratory errors. It is expected that the system to be used will prevent or at least reduce these errors. Considering that patients usually fast for at least 8 hours before coming to the unit, it is clear that patient waiting times should be limited. There is also a different flow of customers in blood collection units than in banks and airports. The duration of the blood collection procedure of the patients may vary, for some tests, e.g. OGTT, patients are required to come to the unit for retesting after a certain period of time and have continuation tests. Queue management systems cannot meet these needs as they are intended for general use.

Another need, which is not in the definition of queue management systems, but inherent in blood collection units, is the need to prepare number of tubes that are appropriate type for the laboratory tests. Some hospitals have defined a new line, the tube line, before the blood draw and have assigned personnel to manually prepare the patients' tubes. This additional queue also means waiting in a new queue for patients and often in uncomfortable conditions.

Covid-19 imposed requirements

Covid-19 pandemic has imposed new responsibilities on hospitals in blood collection units. As it is known, a very high rate of people can pass the Covid-19 disease asymptomatically. In that case, it will be necessary to take measures beyond the HES code query or body temperature measurement.

Blood collection units are the source of pre-analytical errors that cause the vast majority of laboratory errors. It is expected that the system to be used will prevent or at least reduce these errors.

Süleyman Sevinç, Prof. Dr.

It is recommended that hospitals eliminate registration desks to reduce contact. The responsibility of preparing a suitable environment so that social distance can be applied and the patient's blood can be given as soon as possible with a single point of contact is on the management of the hospitals.

As it is seen, queue management systems cannot make a significant contribution other than bringing a weak order to the flow in the blood collection unit. The blood collection service has features that are not found in any other service. This service, which is of central importance for laboratory tests, should be taken with all aspects and the problem should be solved within a system integrity.