Development of communication system for the Out-patient Department by Line application at Khonsawan Hospital, Chaiyaphum Province.

Abstract

     This research was an action research study. The objectives were to study the outpatient nursing communication situation, problems, obstacles, and needs in using the LINE application. The study aimed to develop and pilot an outpatient nursing communication system using the LINE application, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the system on satisfaction and communication efficiency. The study was conducted from October 2022 to September 2023, a total of 12 months, using the ADDIE Model and Orem's Self-Care Theory. The sample consisted of 12 outpatient staff members for model development, 14 nursing personnel, and 100 outpatients (114 total) for evaluation. The research instruments included focus group discussions, general information questionnaires, knowledge assessments, user behavior assessments, satisfaction assessments, and system efficiency assessments. Statistics used included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and paired t-tests for pre- and post-hoc comparisons.

     The study results found that the development of the format resulted in a communication system for outpatient nursing using the Line application, consisting of 6 main menus: hospital information, health knowledge, appointments, nurse consultation, symptom recording, and contact us. The results from registered users found that the average time to respond to messages was 12.35 minutes, with 94.20 percent responding within 30 minutes. The results of using the format found that Knowledge of communication systems increased from 45.50% to 92.80%. Self-care behaviors increased from 58.20% to 85.60%. The appointment attendance rate increased from 76.30% to 91.70%. The seven-day readmission rate decreased from 12.40% to 4.80%, representing a 61.29% decrease. Patient satisfaction increased significantly, with an average score of 4.67 out of 5.00. Nurse satisfaction also increased significantly, with an average score of 4.45 out of 5.00. The most popular feature was appointment making at 89.40%, followed by nurse consultation at 78.50%, and health knowledge at 72.10%. A statistical test of difference revealed significant improvements in all variables at the .05 level (p<.001).