Waiting information design based on outpatients' waiting information needs and time cognition

Waiting in the outpatient department is a common phenomenon in the patient's medical treatment process. The uncertainty of waiting information can significantly affect the medical experience. Establishing a waiting time information system that meets the needs of patients can effectively guide patients to form reasonable expectations, thereby improving patient satisfaction. This study, through the theoretical framework of time cognition and grounded theory analysis, identified four core information needs. Considering the dynamic characteristics of the medical waiting scenario, on the basis of the traditional three dimensions of duration, time point and sequence, the time-varying information dimension was innovatively introduced to construct the outpatient waiting expected time information model (T-EWIM). Taking the outpatient service in China as an example, the intervention effect of introducing time-varying information elements in the patient's medical treatment time prediction task was studied through simulation experiments, verifying the effectiveness of time-varying information elements in time prediction and their impact on user satisfaction. It provides a systematic theoretical model and design framework for information support in the medical waiting scenario.