Governance of Screening Programs Unit, Staff Department, Local Health Authority of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Health Management, Local Health Authority of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Appl Clin Inform. 2023 Aug;14(4):609-619. doi: 10.1055/s-0043-1769910. Epub 2023 Aug 9.
The adoption of web-based appointment methods by health care systems is increasing.
This study primarily aimed to evaluate in the setting of an organized breast cancer screening program the actual usage of an online appointment portal by the target population, i.e., how the online tool was used (type and timing of the actions performed) and by whom (users' characteristics); the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on its usage was also investigated. The effect of adopting this tool on the attendance to breast cancer screening was contextually investigated.
Electronic data records of 75,903 women (45-74 years old, residing in the territory of Bologna Local Health Authority) were retrospectively reviewed.
In total, 12.4% of women logged into the online portal at least once. Most of them (79.9%) rescheduled, 15.7% viewed, and 4.4% cancelled their own appointment. In addition, 40.6% of all rescheduling actions were performed by the online portal; the remaining was performed by the toll-free number/dedicated email address. The highest peak (13.8%) of web accesses was registered at 10 a.m. Monday to Friday, when the toll-free number service is available. Percentages of portal usage were higher: (1) among the younger women, of Italian nationality, and for the first time invited to mammographic screening ( < 0.0001), and (2) in the pandemic period versus the prepandemic period (12.5 vs. 8.6%, respectively; < 0.001). Finally, when compared to not using, the online portal usage led to an overall reduction in the no-show rate of almost 20% ( < 0.0001).
The action mainly performed by using the online appointment portal was the appointment rescheduling. The usage of this tool had a positive effect on the no-show rate and it can be speculated that has led to a reduction of the request load to be handled by the center's screening staff. Finally, this study confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic boosted the use of digital technologies.
医疗系统越来越多地采用基于网络的预约方式。
本研究主要旨在评估在有组织的乳腺癌筛查计划中，目标人群对在线预约门户的实际使用情况，即在线工具的使用方式（执行操作的类型和时间）以及使用人群（用户特征）；还研究了 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）对其使用的影响。还从背景上研究了采用这种工具对乳腺癌筛查参与度的影响。
回顾性审查了 75903 名（45-74 岁，居住在博洛尼亚地方卫生局辖区内）女性的电子数据记录。
共有 12.4%的女性至少登录过一次在线门户。其中大多数（79.9%）重新安排了预约，15.7%查看了预约，4.4%取消了预约。此外，所有重新安排预约的操作中有 40.6%是通过在线门户完成的；其余操作是通过免费电话号码/专用电子邮件地址完成的。在线访问量最高的峰值（13.8%）出现在周一至周五上午 10 点，此时提供免费电话号码服务。门户使用率较高：（1）在首次被邀请进行乳房 X 光筛查的年轻女性、意大利国籍的女性中（<0.0001），（2）在大流行期间与大流行前期间（12.5%比 8.6%；<0.001）。最后，与不使用相比，在线门户的使用导致总体不露面率降低了近 20%（<0.0001）。
主要通过使用在线预约门户执行的操作是预约重新安排。该工具的使用对不露面率有积极影响，可以推测它导致了筛查工作人员需要处理的请求负荷减少。最后，本研究证实，COVID-19 大流行推动了数字技术的使用。
