Domestic medical institutions are competing to develop customized services for the convenience and efficacy of patients.

Many of these services include hospitals providing guidance services using KakaoTalk, the most popular messaging app in Korea with 130 million registered users.

The Catholic University of Incheon St. Mary's Hospital_{인천성모병원} has been providing information on appointments and examination appointments for patients as well as text messages since last month.

The existing text messaging has limitations on the number of characters, but more information on reservations is available through KakaoTalk.

"We will use useful health information such as news and health lectures in hospitals as a new communication window for patients and their caregivers," said Lee Hak-no_이학노, director of the Incheon St. Mary's Hospital.

Konyang University Hospital_{건양대병원} announced on July 13 that it would provide “round talk” services, which inform the inpatients about their schedule before the rounds. The hospital sends the round trip notification message not only to the patient but also to their specialists and nurses.

Hospitals have recently launched customized services for the convenience of patients.

“We will start our rounds in 10 minutes,” said the example message. “Please wait patiently in your room."

Since September 2016, Konyang University Hospital has set up a “roundabout guide board” to notify patients in advance of the rounds.

Inpatients often waited as the medical staff wasn't sure when the rounds were coming. “However, from a doctor's point of view, emergency patients may suddenly change their schedule, and surgery or outpatient care sometimes take more time than anticipated,” said a hospital official. "To alleviate this inconvenience, we have developed a system that notifies patients ahead of schedule of each doctor.”

Ulsan University Hospital_{울산대병원} is also providing “round trip notices” by installing monitors in each ward so patients could check the time of the professor's rounds since the beginning of this month.

The announcement system was introduced to their patients so that they could know when the surgery duration will take longer or delayed due to an emergency situation, the hospital added. They plan to guide operation hours, various examination times, and waiting sequence for the next room.

Seoul National University Hospital_{서울대병원}, regarded as “efficient but unfriendly,” has started efforts to change their current image. Various service improvement activities are receiving favorable responses, such as setting up a reception counter for customer complaints and delivering a get-well-soon card that mimics the hotel's welcome card in each patient’s bedside.

The card contains the words "I wish you a quick recovery," along with how to check the time of the doctor's round, and how to communicate complaints during the hospitalization.

Not only did patients and caregivers respond well to these customized services, but also nurses, majors and other staff members throughout domestic medical institutions gave positive evaluations to them.

connie@docdocdoc.co.kr

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