Reception Desk Research Articles

Effects of Condom Availability on Their Use: A Field Experiment in a Peruvian Hostal

Perú has a high rate of unintended pregnancies. STI rates grow. New policies are needed. Contextual factors in the condom use decision are understudied. Self-reported measures of use have proven unreliable. I used a hostal (love-motel) to conduct a field experiment. 102 couples were randomly allocated to three groups with different levels of condom availability. Instead of using self-reported measures, after a couple left, I searched their room for used condoms. Couples in rooms with a condom on the nightstand were 268% more likely to use one than the control group. For couples with a condom available at the reception desk, the increase was 176%. Facilitating condoms in hostales is a suitable strategy to decrease unprotected sex in the country.

Improving efficiency in the emergency department Monte Carlo simulation for determining the optimal number of staff

This paper examines the application of Monte Carlo simulation to determine optimal staffing levels at reception desks in the Emergency Department. The study utilizes data collected from a hospital in Bogotá, with all data anonymized to maintain the confidentiality of both the institution and its patients. By leveraging programming tools, the study randomizes the data and models various scenarios to assess the staffing requirements accurately. The primary goal is to enhance the efficiency and quality of service by aligning staffing levels with patient demand. The use of historical data, combined with the simulation of hypothetical scenarios, provides a robust basis for predicting future needs and making informed staffing decisions. The study's findings offer valuable insights into human resources management, enabling the Emergency Department to strategically allocate personnel, minimize wait times, and improve overall patient care. This approach demonstrates the potential for simulation-based models to optimize resource allocation in critical healthcare environments.

Medical records information system based on prototyping model using automatic identifier NFC card

Radio Frequency Identification is a compact wireless technology that is superior and has been developed in the commercial and educational for example in automatic identification in the hospital patient registration. This research aims to improve patient registration services to be more practical during outpatient registration at hospitals. Currently, hospital outpatient registration is still carried out semi-computerized where patients come to the reception desk and then register by filling in a registration form. Next, the reception staff performs data entry from the registration form that has been filled in by the patient. If a lot of patients come, there will be a queue of patients because it takes quite a long time for the registration process. Based on the problems faced, this research carried out the development of a patient data management system using NFC cards which contain patient medical record number data. When a patient visits the hospital, the patient taps the medical record card and inputs the complaint and the doctor they are going to, then the patient gets a queue number for consultation, until the patient consults with a doctor and gets the medicine prescribed by the doctor through the use of the system. Testing the system by reading and writing data on the NFC card on the card reader/writer unit, the test results showed that the maximum reading distance for the NFC card was 7 cm with a reading angle relative to the NFC reader/writer with 300 can read the NFC card.

Bridging the Language Gap: The Role of Human-Mediated Translation in Japanese Medical Settings.

Introduction Foreign residents in Japan often face challenges accessing healthcare due to language barriers, potentially leading to health inequities. This study aimed to assess the utilization and impact of human-mediated translation services in a specific medical setting in Tokyo. Methods A retrospective investigation was conducted on medical records of foreign patients who utilized human-mediated translation services at Navitas Clinic Tachikawa (Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan) from November 2017 to December 2021. Data on age, gender, language used, department visited, diagnosis, insurance status, and booking methods were analyzed. Results Out of the 124 foreign patients who utilized the human-mediated translation services during the study period, 69 (56%) were male, and 55 (44%) were female. The median age was 35 years, with a range from 3 to 61 years. English was the predominant language used by 34 patients (59%), followed by Chinese for nine patients (16%) and Spanish for four patients (7%). The majority, 107 patients (86%) visited the internal medicine department, nine patients (7%) consulted dermatology, and six patients (5%) visited pediatrics. Regarding insurance status, 47 patients (81%) were insured, three patients (5%) were uninsured by the Japanese national health insurance system, and eight patients (14%) were self-pay. The primary mode of appointment booking was at the reception desk, with 112 patients (90%) using this method, while 12 patients (10%) made reservations online. Conclusions The findings of this study underscore the importance of human-mediated translation services for improving healthcare accessibility for foreign residents in Japan, emphasizing the need to address language barriers and promote health equity in clinical settings. Future studies should also explore challenges faced in patient-physician interactions from a linguistic perspective and potential technological solutions to enhance these services.

English Language Skills Required in Marriott Convention Centre in Algeria

The present research aims at analyzing the need to English in hospitality industry which emphasized two hotels from the Marriott Convention Centre in Algeria. It seeks to find out the need to the English four skills in the specific areas of hotel reception desk, IT and maids departments. Since empirical data were needed for the purpose of the study, two main types of research: were conducted quantitative and qualitative. Hence, structured interviews were conducted and Likert scale questionnaires were distributed to a sample group of thirty six respondents. The results revealed that the majority of participants in this study rated all four skills as highly needed in their work.

Применение модели бережливого производства как эффективный способ совершенствования деятельности стоматологической поликлиники.

There is an increase in the need of the population, regardless of age, for dental care. At the same time, today there is a personnel shortage, insufficient staffing of the material and technical base of medical organizations providing dental care in outpatient settings. In this regard, it is necessary to search for new organizational technologies in the activities of these organizations to improve the availability and quality of medical care and meet the growing needs of patients. The purpose of the study: to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed model for the use of lean manufacturing technologies in dental practice. Materials and methods. In basic dental polyclinics, data on the timing of time spent by patients at the registry, while waiting for an appointment with a dentist–therapist, the time spent by a dentist–therapist in the treatment of medium caries of permanent teeth, taking into account the filling out of medical documentation before and after the use of lean manufacturing technologies, were analyzed. The assessment of the existing navigation in polyclinics, routing schemes for patients, methods of making an appointment was carried out by visualization method. In addition, the data of the survey of patients and employees of the dental clinic in the previously conducted study were analyzed. Results. After the application of lean manufacturing technologies, the time spent by the patient in the registry was reduced by 12–16 minutes. The total number of actions of the registrar decreased by 31.0%, and the distance traveled by 38.0–40.0%. The time of adding value at the reception of patients by a doctor increased by 20.0% (SP No. 1) and 24.3% (SP No. 2). The time of appointment of a dentisttherapist decreased by 33.8% in joint venture No. 1 and by 32.3% in joint venture No. 2. 72.7% of medical workers noted a positive effect in the activities of their polyclinics. The proportion of patients satisfied with the organization of medical care in dental clinics increased by 33.0%. On average, 88.5% of them noted positive changes in the registry, 73.0% – in the appointment of a dentist-therapist, 74.5% – in the new navigation, 75.0% – in the appointment. Findings. The use of lean manufacturing methods helped to reduce the time spent by patients at the reception desk, at the dentisttherapist’s appointment, increased the availability of an appointment, increased the satisfaction of both medical workers and patients. Thus, the use of the lean manufacturing technology implementation model has shown its effectiveness.

Ragam Rangkaian Bunga sebagai Penghias Lobby Hotel di Kawasan Wisata Ubud, Bali

The hotel lobby is the first area that a guest enters, so it is important to make a good first impression. One way to do this is to put some flower arrangement. Therefore, this study aims to identify the characteristics of flower arrangements used as decorations in hotel lobbies in the Ubud in terms of: the basic shape of the arrangement, the placement of the flower arrangement, the type of flower used, the container/vase used in the flower arrangement, the durability of the flower, and the color of the flower. The data were obtained through interviews with the hotel staff who determine the procurement of lobby interest and through observation. The results showed that the variations in the basic shape of the flower arrangement used, the placement varied from as a center piece to the reception desk, the types of flowers picked in the hotel garden, tropics, commonly used cut flowers and orchids, the resistance was different, as well as the colors used are various colors

Surface Microbial Contamination and Air Quality before and after Regular Cleaning Procedures

Studies on indoor air quality (IAQ) have linked exposure to microorganisms in indoor air to a variety of illnesses. The association between indoor air quality, surface contamination, and IAQ under heterogeneous cleaning procedures are all crucial factors that were investigated in this study. The ATP bioluminescence test demonstrated a significant correlation (r = 0.89; p 0.05) with bacterial count obtained from swab specimens and a moderate correlation (r = 0.57; p 0.001) with viable settling bacterial count. For the entire sample (pre- and post-cleaning), the ATP values were heterogeneous, averaging 230 RLU/100 cm2, 140 RLU/100 cm2, 120 RLU/100 cm2, 135 RLU/100 cm2, 99 RLU/100 cm2, and 80 RLU/100 cm2, in offices, classrooms, toilet doorknobs, reception desks, main lobbies, and exit doorknobs, respectively. An insignificant association between indoor and outdoor PM2.5 (r = 0.21; p 0.05), an I/O ratio of PM2.5 with an average value of 1.2, and an I/O ratio of CO2 exceeding 1 suggest a minor impact of outdoor air. After cleaning, the bacterial and fungal counts on indoor surfaces showed significant reduction, suggesting that the cleaning procedures were effective. The concentrations of VOC but not HCHO in indoor air were significantly affected by cleaning, but not by temperature or relative humidity (RH). We propose ATP bioluminescence as a surrogate for detecting bacterial contamination rather than fungal contamination, which requires additional validation. We suggest that the results of active microbial sampling (in CFU/m3) and settling plates (in CFU/m2/h) be interpreted independently to avoid confusion.

Dog-assisted therapy for control of anxiety in pediatric dentistry.

Anxiety is common in pediatric dental care, and affects the behavioral management of children. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been shown to improve children's behavior. However, few studies have applied this technique in dentistry. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the applicability of dog-assisted therapy to control anxiety during pediatric dental treatment. Twenty children were selected from the Pediatric Dentistry Clinic of the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas (PUC-Campinas), Brazil. Participants were divided into two groups: Control (n = 11; visits = 16), in which children were conditioned by methods routinely used in the clinic; and AAT (n = 9; visits = 23), in which children had contact with a dog therapist first at the reception desk and then again inside the office. The dog therapist stayed beside the dental chair with the child throughout the procedures. Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (CS) and heart rate (HR) were used for evaluation of child anxiety. The results were tested for normality of distribution with the Shapiro-Wilk method, and subsequently analyzed in BioEstat 5.0. HR results were compared by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's test, and CS scores, with the Wilcoxon test. There was a significant reduction in HR in the AAT group (p = 0.0069). In the Control group, HR did not change before, during, or after treatment (p = 0.6052). Controls showed a significant increase in anxiety measured by CS before and after treatment (p = 0.0455). In the AAT group, there was no change in CS scores before and after treatment (p = 0.3739). AAT could be an alternative to reduce anxiety during pediatric dental care.

Exhibition Review: Tuan Andrew Nguyen: Unburied Sounds

Exhibition Review: <i>Tuan Andrew Nguyen: Unburied Sounds</i>

Politeness in hotel service encounter interactions in Spain

Abstract Customer satisfaction in hotels has been measured by considering different aspects of the client’s experience, one of these being interaction with hotel staff. The receptionist is probably the most important member of staff in this context, since this person is the first that the customer meets upon arrival and the one consulted when having a problem or doubt. In this paper, receptionists’ views regarding what they consider to be appropriate verbal and non-verbal behaviour in reception desk service encounters in Spain are analysed. The results show that (a) the participants have very specific expectations regarding what constitutes appropriate receptionist behaviour and (b) there appears to be a general preference for deference politeness strategies and a focus on the transactional part of the interaction.

The incidence of unexpected delays in uploading outside radiologic images in the transfer of patients with major trauma.

Critically ill patients are frequently transferred from one point of care to a hospital that can provide a higher level of care. To achieve optimal treatment within the targeted window of time necessary for time-sensitive cases like major trauma, rapid transportation and decision making are essential. Transferred patients have often undergone radiologic imaging at the referring hospital. Examining these outside images is paramount. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the upload time of outside images. This retrospective study was conducted from January to April 2020. Patients transferred from other hospitals with digitally recorded CDs or DVDs of radiologic or diagnostic images were included. When the patients were registered at the emergency department reception desk, the digital images were transmitted to our picture archiving and communication system using transmission software. The time of upload and the numbers of digital images were recorded. The time interval from patient registration to the time of upload was calculated. The median number of images was 688 in the trauma team activation (TTA) group (688 in the TTA group, 281 in the non-TTA trauma group, and 176 in the nontrauma group, respectively; P<0.001). The median upload time was 10 minutes. The longest upload time was 169 minutes. The upload time was more than 20 minutes in 12 cases (19.4%). Patients with major trauma bring more images than patients with other diseases. Unexpected delays (>20 minutes) were noted in approximately 20% of cases. It is necessary to minimize this time.

Investigating the role of spatial configuration on visitors’ spatial cognition in health-care spaces: case studies in Gilan, Iran

PurposeThis study aims to explore the impact of spatial configuration on behavioral patterns of visitors in the ground floor of health-care spaces.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the Space Syntax analysis was used to combine visibility graph analysis and axial line analysis with empirical observation of visitors’ activities. Two types of observation methods on visitors were conducted to discover the behavioral patterns of individuals, respectively, named “gate counts” and “people following.”FindingsThe outcomes of this research revealed that the spatial arrangements of pathways, public areas, vertical circulations, entrance space, lobby, emergency department, reception desk and pharmacy have a significant influence on the way that visitors perceive the health-care environment.Research limitations/implicationsThe current research is limited to two aspects of effective wayfinding (configuration of health care and geometry). Future work can investigate the other potential factors coupled with the current factor as an integrated research for enhancing wayfinding and sustaining accessibility. Another limitation is that the observation results for this study had been conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic and future studies can compare these results with the current COVID-19 situation within health care environments.Originality/valueA large amount of research has focused on the needs of populations in developed countries. This topic has not been investigated thoroughly by professionals in developing countries such as Iran. Accordingly, this study benefits environmental psychologists and architects by revealing the effective characteristics of legible spaces in health-care environments.

Assessment of Patient Satisfaction towards Dental Care Services Provided at Private Dental Hospital: Cross Sectional Study

Background: The dental practice is a mixture of science and art that provides excellent dental and oro-facial care to their patients. Aim: To assess the level of patient satisfaction and seek improvement in the quality of dental services provided at Private Hospital. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Methodology: A total number of 400 patients were enrolled who responded to the questionnaire. The ethical approval was obtained from hospital review ethical committee, after completing and submitting the research proposal. The questionnaires were filled by patients after being guided by dental assistants for accuracy and complete filling of data. Results: Among 400 enrolled subjects, there were 53.7% females while males were 46.3%. Satisfaction score was higher in all domains except reception desk &amp; waiting area. No significant difference was observed in satisfaction score of patient-doctor interaction, dental assistant patient interaction and overall health facility domain among different age groups. The satisfaction score of reception desk &amp; waiting area domain was significantly lower in young patients (&lt;30years). There was no significant difference in satisfaction score of all domains between both genders. Patient visited to Orthodontics department had lower score in dental assistant patient interaction domain as compared to patients visited operative department. Similarly, overall satisfaction score of the patients visited Orthodontics department was scored lower as compared to remaining departments. Conclusion: It was concluded that there was significantly high satisfactory score from patients. Thus, were ready to re-visit the hospital. Young patients were less satisfied pertaining reception desk services and waiting area. Patients visited Orthodontics department were also less satisfied with the behavior of dental assistant. Keywords: Dental Professionals, Satisfactory Score and Health Facilities.

Оценка пациентами временных затрат при посещении медицинской организации

The satisfaction of the population with medical care is considered today as one of the most important indicators of the health care system. At the same time, more and more attention is being paid to the time spent by patients in a medical organization when receiving outpatient care, as a factor affecting satisfaction with medical care in general. P u r p o s e of the study is to determine the opinion of patients about their time costs when visiting a medical organization that provides outpatient care. M a t e r i a l a n d m e t h o d s . The process of a patient’s referral to a polyclinic, a questionnaire for patients posted on the Internet on an open electronic resource Online Test Pad. The number of questionnaires is 509. Methods: analytical, sociological, descriptive statistics. R e s u l t s . During the surveys, respondents subjectively assess the time spent on various actions: communication at the reception desk, searching for an office, waiting for an appointment, etc., as well as the total time spent in a medical organization. In addition, the appearance at the polyclinic may be preceded by an appointment, which also takes time. Respondents were asked to estimate the total time spent in the polyclinic, as well as the time they are willing to devote to visiting it. The respondents’ assessment of the time spent shows significant time reserves: in the organization of an appointment and the work of the registry (clarifications, obtaining background information, obtaining coupons), navigation and, possibly, in the location of offices, in the organization of space in waiting areas. C o n c l u s i o n s . A tool for assessing the time spent by patients to receive care in a medical organization providing outpatient care has been developed and tested. There are significant differences in the length of time spent on making an appointment, including by phone and via the Internet. Significant reserves have been identified to reduce the total time required to visit the polyclinic. The developed tool is characterized by a short filling time, contains simple questions and allows you to quickly identify areas of necessary improvements.

Communication with patients and the quality of medical services (on the example of handling patients at the reception desk)

Communication with patients and the quality of medical services (on the example of handling patients at the reception desk)

Comparative Study of Prevalence of MRSA on Surfaces of Different Laboratories in Bangalore in the COVID-19 Era

Background Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA is endemic in India. MRSA prevalence ranges from 25 in the western part of India to 50 in the southern part. India is reporting an increase in community-acquired MRSA CA-MRSA. This research was carried out in six diagnostic centers for a period of one month during July 2020 to determine the prevalence of MRSA and susceptibility pattern of S. aureus isolates on high contact surfaces of NABL laboratories and non-NABL laboratories.Aim The goal of this study was to assess the performance of new infection control systems in the COVID-19 period in preventing MRSA colonization on high contact surfaces in laboratories and to see if they adhered to high standards NABL.Material amp Methods Total 96 swabs were taken from the following surfaces - waiting area collection room doorknob reception desk workbench incubator knob chair edges faucet knob. Two swabs were collected from each surface one was inoculated into nutrient agar and the other was inoculated on mannitol salt agar. The isolates were identified by appearance of colonies followed by catalase and coagulase tests and final identification was done by VITEK-2 system. Antibiotic sensitivity test was performed to check the MRSA strain.Results None of the surfaces of either NABL laboratories or non-NABL laboratories showed the growth of MRSA.Conclusion Based on the findings of the present study it can be concluded that all the procedures followed were highly effective for the control of the prevalence of MRSA by contact contamination.

Is subjectively perceived treatment urgency of patients in emergency departments associated with self-reported health literacy and the willingness to use the GP as coordinator of treatment? Results from the multicentre, cross-sectional, observational study PiNo Bund

ObjectivesAim of this study was to analyse if subjectively perceived treatment urgency of patients in emergency departments is associated with self-reported health literacy and the willingness to use the general...

Nekray

In recent years, the demand of kiosk devices has increased significantly for relaying information in organizations, institutions, or any other service centers. They have become a better alternative for traditional human assistance or reception desks. However, there are no dynamic operating systems or user interfaces available for kiosk devices. This paper represents a development of an operating system for kiosk devices called ‘Nekray', which was built on Linux Kernel environment. It was designed to be dynamic, fast, user-friendly, and user interactive. The developed operating system avails the option to change the data of its features as per requirement. It also supports plug and play feature and can be installed in any low-cost hardware board. Furthermore, built-in AI is also a part of the developed system that performs its features through image processing. The system maintains the privacy and interactive transition of data to its users on kiosk devices.

Food management and surveillance using Viola Jones algorithm and Local Binary Pattern Histogram

This paper proposes an efficient system to manage the online food ordering, maintenance of employee attendance and provides auto surveillance. In this system, a camera will be placed at the entrance of the company. Whenever a person enters into the company, their faces are detected by the camera and features are extracted. Then those features are compared with the extracted features of the trained database. Two databases one employee database and other VIP database is maintained. When the features of a face get matched, the system will check whether the features are from the employee database or Very Important Person (VIP) database. When the match is from the employees list, the employee will be marked present. Then a unique code and the food ordering link will be sent to their mobile number. The ordered food will be delivered to the employee at the food court at the respective time slots. Suppose when the match is from the VIP list, an alert message will be sent to the reception desk along with the VIP ID. On the other hand, when the person photo is not matched, it will be saved in the unknown person list. When an employee leaves the company before the food is delivered, the food cancellation link will be sent to their respective mobile number to cancel the food order.