Virtual waiting room for patients amid COVID-19 invented by university students
A group of university students recently invented QQueue - an app that allows patients to virtually wait in line, reducing waiting time and the chance of groups gathering in public spaces.
The group comprises four IT students – Vo Quoc Thang, Nguyen Thi Bich Van, Pham Tran Hien Dung and Huynh Bao Di – from the University of Science under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City. The app helped them win the Incentive Award from the University’s Creative Idea Contest 2020.
“At vulnerable times like during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals run risks of overcrowding, and the longer patients have to wait on premises, the higher the risk of spreading and catching the virus,” Van said:
Combined with personal experiences of having to wait for hours at the hospital for a diagnosis, the group decided to work on this app.
Currently the group is collaborating with a hospital in Binh Thanh district in HCM City to improve and update the app.
“The difference between QQueue and other apps is that it focuses on the complete process of waiting throughout different procedures requiring lining up, like getting a number, paying fees, having a clinical examination, getting the medicine, etc,” Van said.
The application has six main features: waiting in line, announcing patients’ turns, looking for hospitals and queues, saving virtual health records, and estimating the time of a visit.
“The application uses algorithms to minimise waiting time. Since patients can search for hospitals and queue in advance, they can estimate the time to get to the hospital right before their appointment. AI will allow people to spend waiting time more efficiently,” Van said.
In the future, the group is planning to allow online payments with e-wallets as well as medicine deliveries in collaboration with pharmacies. The virtual waiting room design from QQueue can be applied to many other administrations, banks and government offices.