Stakeholders' experiences, perceptions and satisfaction with an electronic appointment system: a qualitative content analysis

BackgroundOnline appointment scheduling systems have been designed and implemented to address barriers and problems related to in-person appointment scheduling; however, these systems also face challenges and issues that require continuous evaluation and resolution. This research aimed to investigate the experiences, perceptions and satisfaction of stakeholders with an electronic appointment system and identify its problems.MethodsThis was a qualitative study conducted at a specialty Clinic in Iran during 2022-2023. A systematic purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. The participants included 10 administrative and executive users working at the Specialty Clinic, 8 physicians working at the clinic and 18 patients and visitors to the clinic. Data was collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe findings derived from the semi-structured interview data revealed that the problems with the appointment system fell into two main themes: "Problems Related to Planning and Management of the Electronic Appointment System" and "Non-managerial Problems of the Electronic Appointment System". The problems related to planning and management were divided into three categories: national-level system management, university-level system management and clinic-level system management. The non-managerial problems were classified into two groups: functional problems and non-functional problems.ConclusionsThe results of this study showed that the electronic appointment system, despite facilitating appointment processes, can be influenced by various factors and lead to stakeholder dissatisfaction. Planning, management and policymaking have a significant impact on the appointment process of healthcare centers and attention to the problems arising from it is of particular importance. Moreover, if the functional and non-functional requirements of appointment systems are unclear, the system will face many challenges.