Public Hospital Queuing and Queue-Scalping: Evidence from Emergency Departments in Lahore

Abstract

This article explores Queuing and queue-scalping. These are behaviors that exist in the emergency departments (EDs) of Lahore, Pakistan and this study aims to investigate these behaviors. Another major problem in hospital management is queue-scalping, where people will be trying to cut queue system, affecting both the satisfaction of patients and the use of resource by hospitals. Our motivation is to find out the root factors causing queue-scalping and implications on efficiency of the emergency department. This belongs to a quantitative study, as the method of gathering the information is through observation of data in various emergency departments of the public hospitals in the city of Lahore. The aim of the proposed research is to determine how widespread queue-scalping in the Lahore public hospitals is, what kind of factors inform such activity, and how it affects hospital activity and contentment on the part of its clients.500 patients were interviewed to do a survey and healthcare professionals were interviewed as well as observational data collection was done to monitor the movement of the patients in EDs (it lasted 3 months). Statistical analyses will be performed through the utilization of the descriptive statistics, the correlation tests, and regressions. The findings of the study were that about 35 percent of the patients tried to bypass the queue using the informal channels. Long waiting times, failure to communicate satisfactorily with patients and problems perceived to exist in the system were found to be the main motivators of such behavior. The issue raised by queue-scalping implied that other patients had to wait longer and, in turn, this dropped their satisfaction. This paper is the contribution to the science of the queue- scalping behaviors in the public hospitals and the necessity to consolidate the issue, improving the queue management systems. The results indicate that some of the ways to correct this situation involve enhancing communication, making patient workflow more efficient, and maximizing technology. A 500 sample size was taken through the survey of four emergency departments in Lahore and the data has been taken regarding the given sample in a three months period. The amount of patients that took part in queue-scalping behavior was 35 percent and the relationship between the waiting time and queue-jumping was statistically significant (p < 0.05).To ensure that there are fewer inefficiencies in a queue due to queue-scalping, public hospitals need to enhance their queue management systems. The present study is among the earlier studies that have looked at the phenomenon of queue-scalping in the public hospital Emergency Departments in Pakistan and provides information on how to enhance the functioning of Emergency Departments.