P121 Turnaround times for the submission of information using a novel suite of fully online patient forms

Abstract

Abstract Purpose To assess the turnaround times for a newly implement suite of online patient questionnaires and forms returned to a private Thoracic and Sleep outpatient service over a two-week period. Methods This study included all online patient forms submitted to the Wesley Hospital Sleep Disorders Centre and Wesley Hospital Lung Function Lab between the 16th and 30th June (n= 120). Age, gender and turnaround times were included in the data set. Results The average turnaround time for form submission was 2.7 days. 95% of forms were returned within 7 days, 43.3% were returned the same day. On Average women submitted their forms (2.5 days) faster than men (2.8 days). Patients aged under 40 had the shortest average turnaround time (2.53 days). However, when gender is considered we found that women aged over 60 had the fastest turnaround time (2.0 days) and women aged between 40 and 60 had the slowest average turnaround time (3.5 days). Discussion It is clear that online form completion and submission are no barrier to the rapid provision of information to and from patients. While failed submission attempts were not included in this analysis, anecdotally we found that most patients had little to no difficulty with completing an online form. The sample size of this study may have limited some of the findings, particularly when assessing the sub-groups that included both age and gender combined.