Mobile solution to optimize process for healthcare delivery referral in pediatric patients with a presumptive cancer diagnosis

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a mobile solution to optimize the medical referral process for pediatric patients with presumptive cancer diagnosis. This proposal allows the automation of the process through the identification of the main gaps that are covered by the following functionalities: (1) Registration and interaction of the actors in the process, (2) Support for timely diagnosis with first-hand information, (3) Creation of request tickets and personalized medical appointments, and (4) Creation of reports on the response time and compliance with the process. The proposal is described in three sections: (1) The automation of the medical referral process, (2) The functionalities of the mobile solution, and (3) the designed technology architecture. The validation of the proposal was carried out in a social health insurance in Lima-Peru, with data and information of the process obtained by the institution. The measurement was made through the mobile solution which allowed obtaining the response times of the process with the main actors such as the pediatric doctor, an oncology specialist and a pediatric patient's guardian. The results showed that the time of the referral process is optimized between an interval of [95%-97.5%], which mainly generates a social benefit to the community by assuring a timely treatment of the pediatric cancer patient, based on diagnosis and early care.