The Florida Department of Health in Lake County plays a pivotal role in advancing and safeguarding public health in the Lake County community. Tasked with a diverse array of responsibilities and services, the department encompasses vital programs such as WIC, clinical and nutritional services, wellness initiatives, community health planning, environmental and public health oversight, emergency preparedness and response, as well as infectious disease services.
The Challenge
The Florida Department of Health in Lake County (DOH) identified the need for an upgraded solution to transition from traditional to digital methods. Before implementing Q-Flow, patients at Lake County DOH used a paper sign-in system for clinical appointments, leading to legibility issues and some patients neglecting to sign in. Additionally, their scheduling system lacked sufficient client personal information. Recognizing these challenges, Lake County DOH sought a more advanced system to offer a comprehensive view of daily operations, including detailed patient information, streamlined scheduling for staff, and data.
The Solution
The Lake County Department of Health aimed to achieve several objectives by adopting Q-Flow across their three locations. This includes streamlining the scheduling process, by engaging patients in the scheduling process to gather more information before appointments. Led by IT Manager Duvonne Berry and Senior Clerical Supervisor Elizabeth Henderson-Winfield, the Q-Flow implementation was swiftly introduced across Lake County's health clinics, with each clinic transitioning to Q-Flow in just 1-2 days. Q-Flow provided clinical staff with enhanced visibility, displaying staff names, responsibilities, and facilitating a more organized workflow throughout the clinic. The positive response from clinical staff highlighted Q-Flow's effectiveness in meeting the department's goals.
Solution Features
Queue Management System:
Q-Flow significantly improved both patient and staff experiences by effectively managing wait times through a streamlined self-check in process with appointment scheduling efficiencies. Lake County DOH is leveraging the following Q-Flow features for their patients.
- Kiosks: Patients can now self-check in using the kiosk, placing them in a designated queue with priority and routing them to staff based on their specific skill set. Self-check-in streamlines the intake process allowing staff to focus on providing patient services.
Multilingual Patient Journey:
Recognizing the diverse patient population in Lake County, the Department of Health, invested in a multilingual patient journey to include a multi-lingual kiosk and based on the patient’s selection at the kiosk, that language journey will follow the patient to their SMS and email notifications, lobby announcements and routing to bilingual staff members automatically. This process ensures effective communication with patients from all backgrounds.
Q-Anywhere Remote Check-In
Q-Anywhere™ revolutionizes the check-in process for Lake County Department of Health patients. Patients can check in using their mobile devices upon arrival and receive text notifications when the staff of Lake County are ready to provide service. This flexibility allows patients to wait in their cars, outdoors, or at nearby locations, further optimizing service efficiency, and a1llowing patients flexibility for other tasks while they wait as opposed to being in the lobby.
Patient Feedback
Post-visit, patients receive an SMS requesting feedback through a survey. Since implementing this feature, Lake County Department of Health has observed a significant increase in the number of customers participating in the survey, providing valuable insights for opportunities of improvement under an array of initiatives
The Results
The collaboration between ACF Technologies and The Florida Department of Health in Lake County has yielded remarkable outcomes within the county's facilities. Since the initial implementation in August 2023, Duvonne Berry and Elizabeth Henderson-Winfield have reported the following notable results:
- Access to estimated wait times for staff and patients
- Improved user-friendliness for patients
- Empowered patients with greater control over their scheduling
- Enhanced reliability
- Improved experiences for both staff and patients
- Increased accuracy within their systems
