ArticleJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA2022
Utilization patterns and efficiency gains from use of a fully EHR-integrated COVID-19 self-triage and self-scheduling tool: a retrospective analysis.
Article in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Authentication status and AI triage concordance among care seekers in a US health system.npj health systems · 2026Article
- Enhancing the Performance of Patient Appointment Scheduling: Outcomes of an Automated Waitlist Process to Improve Patient Wait Times for Appointments.Health services insights · 2025Article
- Self-scheduling in a Large Multispecialty and Multisite Clinic: A Retrospective, Longitudinal Examination of Multiple Self-Scheduled Visit Types.Health services research and managerial epidemiologyArticle
- Self-Triage Use, Subsequent Healthcare Utilization, and Diagnoses: A Retrospective Study of Process and Clinical Outcomes Following Self-Triage and Self-Scheduling for Ear or Hearing Symptoms.Health services research and managerial epidemiologyArticle
- Patient Opportunities to Self-Schedule in a Large Multisite, Multispecialty Medical Practice: Program Description and Uptake of 7 Unique Processes for Patients to Successfully Self-Schedule (and Reschedule) Their Medical Appointments.Health services research and managerial epidemiologyArticle
- Self-scheduling Medical Visits in a Multispecialty, Multisite Medical Practice: Complexity, Challenges, and Successes.Health services research and managerial epidemiologyArticle
- Hospitalization Risk Associated With Emergency Department Reasons for Visit and Patient Age: A Retrospective Evaluation of National Emergency Department Survey Data to Help Identify Potentially Avoidable Emergency Department Visits.Health services research and managerial epidemiologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveSymptom checkers can help address high demand for SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) testing and care by providing patients with self-service access to triage recommendations. However, health systems may be hesitant to invest in these tools, as their associated efficiency gains have not been studied. We aimed to quantify the operational efficiency gains associated with use of an online COVID-19 symptom checker as an alternative to a telephone hotline.
methodsIn our health system, ambulatory patients can either use an online symptom checker or a telephone hotline to be triaged and connected to COVID-19 care. We performed a retrospective analysis of adults who used either method between October 20, 2021 and January 10, 2022, using call logs, electronic health record data, and local wages to calculate labor costs.
resultsOf the 15 549 total COVID-19 triage encounters, 1820 (11.7%) used only the telephone hotline and 13 729 (88.3%) used the symptom checker. Only 271 (2%) of the patients who used the symptom checker also called the hotline. Hotline encounters required more clinician time compared to those involving the symptom checker (17.8 vs 0.4 min/encounter), resulting in higher average labor costs ($24.21 vs $0.55 per encounter). The symptom checker resulted in over 4200 clinician labor hours saved.
conclusionWhen given the option, most patients completed COVID-19 triage and visit scheduling online, resulting in substantial efficiency gains. These benefits may encourage health system investment in such tools.
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