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Methods: This study had a descriptive qualitative research design. Participants were 12 patients and 20 health care workers at health care centers in Korea. Data were collected from March 17 to April 28, 2014, via focus group interviews. After obtaining permission from the participants, each focus group session was audio-taped and transcribed. The responses were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Results: The four main themes identified from the sessions with the participants were “satisfaction with improved quality of services,” “inconvenience due to unfamiliarity and limited function,” “gradual improvement of the electronic tag system,” and “encountering unexpected malfunction of the electronic tag system.”
Participants responded that the main benefits of using the electronic tag system were fast examination, efficiency, privacy protection, and prevention of omission or mistakes during the health check-up. However, participants were unsatisfied with some aspects of the tag system because they could not see all the waiting lists on the screen and they had to recheck the screen because the tagging sound was same whether it was tagged correctly or incorrectly. There were individual differences in using the electronic tagging system. Some participants wanted to have more specific information on the tagging system because it is continuously changing and they are unfamiliar with it. Further, some participants encountered malfunctions while using the electronic tag system.
Conclusion: In conclusion, use of an electronic tag system will be beneficial for improving safety and quality of services in health care settings. Health care workers should remember there are individual differences in the use of such systems, and that efforts are needed to minimize the inconvenience to users.