Uengarporn Naporn, Saengthongpitag Teerapat, Chongjaroenjai Poonyanuch, Pongpitakdamrong Atcha, Sriratthnarak Wutthipong, Rianteerasak Phonpimon, Mongkolkul Kanyarat, Srinuchasart Paninun, Srichaisawat Panuwat, Mungklang Nicharee, Sanguantrakul Raiwada, Tongdee Pattama, Kiatmongkol Wichulada, Sihaklang Boonyanulak, Putrakul Piraporn, Namvichaisirikul Niwatchai, Saritshasombat Patrapon
School of Pediatrics, Institute of Medicine, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand.
Suranaree University of Technology Hospital, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand.
Healthcare (Basel). 2025 Jul 11;13(14):1676. doi: 10.3390/healthcare13141676.
Caregivers of children often encounter barriers when accessing pediatric healthcare services. These challenges highlight the need for digital innovations to improve accessibility and efficiency in pediatric outpatient care.
This study aimed to design, implement, and pilot evaluate the Smart Well Child Center application in conjunction with enhancements to the Pediatric Outpatient Department.
This study employs a mixed-methods research approach. The application was developed following the system development life cycle (SDLC) process, and its performance was subsequently evaluated. Additionally, its effectiveness in real-world settings was assessed through a satisfaction survey completed by 85 child caregivers. The results were summarized using the mean and standard deviation, and satisfaction levels were compared using paired -test and repeated measures ANOVA.
The findings reveal that caregivers face significant challenges, including financial burdens related to travel, prolonged wait times, and difficulties accessing healthcare services. In response, the application was designed to incorporate key functionalities. Within the pre-consultation self-assessment module, caregivers can complete evaluations and receive recommendations directly through the application. Furthermore, the service procedure flowchart was restructured to seamlessly integrate these digital innovations, thereby enhancing the overall healthcare experience. The evaluation results indicate that the application achieved high performance ratings across all assessed dimensions (4.06 ± 0.77). Additionally, caregivers reported a substantial increase in satisfaction levels both immediately after implementation (4.58 ± 0.57) and one month afterward (4.59 ± 0.33).
Given these findings, it is recommended that the hospital fully adopt the Smart Well Child Center application to improve healthcare accessibility and reduce patient wait times. Future research should assess the long-term impact of the intervention on both caregiver outcomes and healthcare professional workflow, satisfaction, and system usability, to inform broader implementation strategies.
儿童护理人员在获取儿科医疗服务时经常遇到障碍。这些挑战凸显了数字创新在提高儿科门诊护理可及性和效率方面的必要性。
本研究旨在设计、实施并试点评估智能健康儿童中心应用程序，并对儿科门诊部门进行改进。
本研究采用混合方法研究。该应用程序是按照系统开发生命周期（SDLC）流程开发的，随后对其性能进行了评估。此外，通过85名儿童护理人员完成的满意度调查评估了其在实际环境中的有效性。结果用均值和标准差进行总结，满意度水平用配对t检验和重复测量方差分析进行比较。
研究结果表明，护理人员面临重大挑战，包括与出行相关的经济负担、长时间等待以及获取医疗服务困难。作为回应，该应用程序被设计纳入关键功能。在咨询前的自我评估模块中，护理人员可以直接通过该应用程序完成评估并获得建议。此外，服务流程图表进行了重新设计，以无缝整合这些数字创新，从而提升整体医疗体验。评估结果表明，该应用程序在所有评估维度上均获得了较高的性能评分（4.06±0.77）。此外，护理人员报告称，实施后立即（4.58±0.57）和实施一个月后（4.59±0.33）满意度水平大幅提高。
鉴于这些发现，建议医院全面采用智能健康儿童中心应用程序，以提高医疗可及性并减少患者等待时间。未来的研究应评估该干预措施对护理人员结果以及医疗专业人员工作流程、满意度和系统可用性的长期影响，以为更广泛的实施策略提供信息。
