The “Evangelismos” hospital today launched a system for tracking patients in the emergency rooms, giving doctors the ability to monitor the tests each patient has undergone and all the “stops” they need to make while in the emergency room.

According to the health ministry’s plans, the pilot will be extended to 14 hospitals by mid-July and 80 hospitals by January 2026.

Those who go to the hospital’s on-call service will receive a portable GPS that will continuously record the route they take through the hospital, the stops they make in individual departments and the delays that currently take hours. The “wristband” will not be given to patients who are evacuated by ambulance.

Once a citizen enters the Emergency Department (ED) they are directed to the traffic desk. There they will receive a “wristband” which is a plastic bracelet that has a barcode on it and each citizen will put it on their wrist. He then immediately goes to the case screening so that he can be directed to which medical office he should go to. Upon allocation, the citizen will scan the code on his hand on one of the special machines and the hospital will collect information on waiting times.

On the special screens, patients will see in real time the waiting time until their turn comes, as the number of the case being attended to will be displayed each time. Importantly, all data on waits at each point of a citizen’s movement in the ICUs will be recorded on a digital platform, so the Ministry of Health will be able to know the problematic “spots” of an on-call service per hospital. All this data is expected to help in mapping the situation in the ER and promoting interventions where needed.

According to the Ministry of Health’s plan, by mid-June the tracking system will be implemented in the following hospitals: KAT, Sismanoglio, Amalia Fleming, G. At the same time, the hospital will be equipped with the following facilities: Amalia Fleming, Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, Gennimatas Hospital, Laiko, Agia Sophia Children’s Hospital, Penteli Children’s Hospital, Pan. & Agl. Kyriakou, Agios Savas, Agii Anargyroi, University Hospital of Ioannina, University Hospital of Patras, Hospital of Karpathos St. John.

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In a post on social media on Thursday morning, Health Minister Adonis Georgiades noted that with the new system: “a) we will collect real data on what is happening and we will be able to intervene in conditions of excessive delay b) in a short time everyone will know, depending on the hospital we choose, how long the waiting time will be, c) we will be able to design targeted policies.”