Health Pods for Automated Triage Improve Efficiency and Satisfaction in Nurses and Patients

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

It is an interesting article that presents a solution for emergency services.

Suggestions:

- The methodology does not make it sufficiently clear how patient data is stored or accessed.

- It would be useful for the discussion to expand on a comment regarding the time/nurse workload that the capsule saves.

- It is not sufficiently clear whether alarms can be programmed if necessary. The article mentions that the capsules were used in low-risk triage patients; however, there are vital sign values that fall outside the normal range. Did the capsule issue an alert?

Best regards,

 

Author Response

Comment 1: It is an interesting article that presents a solution for emergency services.

Suggestions:

- The methodology does not make it sufficiently clear how patient data is stored or accessed.

Response 1: We added the sentence to explain this point (lines 116-118).

 

Comment 2: It would be useful for the discussion to expand on a comment regarding the time/nurse workload that the capsule saves.

Response 2: Thank you for the suggestion: we added a paragraph to discuss this relevant element (lines 332-352).

 

Comment 3: It is not sufficiently clear whether alarms can be programmed if necessary. The article mentions that the capsules were used in low-risk triage patients; however, there are vital sign values that fall outside the normal range. Did the capsule issue an alert?

Response 3: Thank you for the suggestion: we included an explanation of the process and of the alerting procedure (lines 121-133).

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

In this paper, the authors proposed the Health Pods for automated triage improve efficiency and satisfaction in nurses and patients. The following are required to be revised for the improvement of this paper.

- The concept of using automated health pods for triage is innovative and relevant to modern healthcare challenges. However, the paper should emphasize how these pods differ from or improve upon existing triage systems (e.g., telemedicine or self-assessment apps).

- The authors should provide more insight into the specific technological or procedural advancements that make these pods efficient and user-friendly.

- The paper describes the implementation process well, but more technical details about the underlying algorithms and decision-making criteria used in the triage process would enhance understanding.

- Clarify how the pods handle diverse patient scenarios, including edge cases like rare symptoms or non-verbal communication.

- The conclusion summarizes the findings well, but it should also include a discussion on the broader implications of health pods for healthcare systems.

Author Response

Comment 1: In this paper, the authors proposed the Health Pods for automated triage improve efficiency and satisfaction in nurses and patients. The following are required to be revised for the improvement of this paper.

- The concept of using automated health pods for triage is innovative and relevant to modern healthcare challenges. However, the paper should emphasize how these pods differ from or improve upon existing triage systems (e.g., telemedicine or self-assessment apps).

Response 1: We explained this point in the text: we appreciate the suggestion by the reviewer to make clearer the potential impact of the system (see lines 65-71)

Comment 2: The authors should provide more insight into the specific technological or procedural advancements that make these pods efficient and user-friendly.

Response 2: We expanded the section describing the health pods and their self procedure that is implemented thanks to a specific design of the UI/UX making the system error-free (which is essential for this application) and very intuitive. (see lines 89-103)

Comment 3:  The paper describes the implementation process well, but more technical details about the underlying algorithms and decision-making criteria used in the triage process would enhance understanding.
Response 3: We clarified in the text that the process is still nurse-driven: the system can support self-measurement of vital signs and the compilation of the anamnestic questionnaire but the classification is still in charge of the nurse for legal needs. (see lines 121-133)

Comment 4:  Clarify how the pods handle diverse patient scenarios, including edge cases like rare symptoms or non-verbal communication.
Response 4: Thank you for the very interesting comment: we clarified that these cases were not tested here, but we started from given classifications by the triage nurses. However, we discussed this point in lines 366-377.

Comment 5: The conclusion summarizes the findings well, but it should also include a discussion on the broader implications of health pods for healthcare systems.

Response 5: We expanded the conclusion as suggested.

 

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

After the second review, I believe the authors have carefully addressed all the comments. I would strongly recommend the publication of this paper.