Redesign of the ISESALUD Ensenada patient referral process supported with the development of a prototype of a web system

Abstract

This work aims to contribute to the referral process of patients from first to second level of medical healthcare in a Hospital of the Public Health System, in Ensenada, Baja California, México. Currently, this process is carried out through a paper format, which the doctor must elaborate for each patient requiring to be referred to a second level Health Center. The physical copy of the reference form must be taken personally by the patient to the Archive Department of the General Hospital of Ensenada. This process requires the patient to wait there to be assigned the medical appointment with a specialist, which always results in the need to come back another date and time. This proposal applies Process Re-engineering to analyze the current process and redesign it. Information Technologies are used as change enablers, specifically, the development of a prototype web system. With this prototype, the new process for referring patients from the first level to the second level of care is automated. This new process simplifies the steps and reduces the effort from the patient to make his transition from the Health Center to the Ensenada General Hospital to schedule his second level appointment.