In December 2023, I listened in on a conversation between two of my senior colleagues discussing how our clinic had a waitlist of 24-48 hours for a heart scan while a competitor in the same city had a waitlist of six weeks for the same scan. I thought to myself what that meant; it meant that some Albertan's care would be delayed for 40 days simply because they did not know that the same care is available 40 days earlier for them, a delay  I figured was causing an artificial waitlist within the system. With all the technologies around, I pondered how this could be happening and how it could be resolved.

In a country where healthcare waitlist is a major problem, and with our province considered to be the fastest growing state in the world, why are we not maximizing our resources by taking advantage of opportunities presented by the company I work for to reduce our waitlist? Why was there no system in place to ensure that such huge gap in appointment times between clinics do not occur? Though I know that it is the responsibility of patients and physician clinics to book appointments, I equally know that lots of patients avoid calling more than one diagnostic center because no one enjoys speaking to a machine for a lengthy period twice in a role, or being put on hold for long twice. In this 21st century, patients need to be given better tools to book their appointments. Although I know that the Alberta government is doing their absolute best to provide a better healthcare delivery system for everyone, they may not be aware of all the problems within the healthcare delivery system unless they are informed of it. I tried reaching out to the authorities but did not get a response from them. I then decided to find a way to solve the problem myself as a private citizen.

A solutions did not occur to me until a week later. From my experience working in the industry for close to a decade and half, coupled with a little understanding in web applications, I came up with an idea that may not just eliminate the artificial waitlist within the system in our province, but can help reduce waitlists in Allied Health in the entire country if used. I developed a Healthcare Coordinating System (HCS) called HCwaitlist.com.

HCwaitlist.com is designed with one goal in mind: To bring the diagnostic centers one step closer to the patient and physician clinic that rely on them. It is a system that, with a click of a button, informs anyone of the EARLIEST WAIT TIME FOR ANY SCAN WITHIN THEIR CITY AND THE CITY CLOSEBY. It is a system that notifies you of any cancellation for any scan you are interested in, thus allowing you to have the scan done earlier. It is designed to be a win for the patients, the physician clinics, and the diagnostic centers all together.

One other problem that can be solved by this website was one I experienced working in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Often, I met patients who had recently visited Edmonton (5 Hrs away) for a medical appointment that I did perform as a technologist in Fort McMurray (e.g. A patient going to Edmonton for a NM bone scan, which could have been done in Fort McMurray). The patients were usually unaware that they could have done the scan in the city. They take 2-3 days off work for the trip and the appointment, and often rent a hotel room for their stay. The estimate of money lost by the patient comes close to $2500.00 per trip, taking into consideration of not just their travel expenses, but also their days off from work as well. I usually see them months or a year later when they come to see me for a different scan. When I tell them I could have done the procedure for them if they had come to our clinic, they get really annoyed. My hope is to solve this problem with a click of a button for patients living outside the big cities through HCwaitlist.com.

The website also has the capacity to allow women browse for any clinic within their city (or cities closeby) where a female doctor is available in real time. The site can inform you of any clinic that has a doctor that speaks the same language as you in real time. It can also inform mothers where a pediatrician is present, also in real time.......And lots more.

Being a private citizen financing this project, I was greatly limited in implementing all the ideas I have for this website. The site could have been done to make it more user friendly, and there should have been an App created for the website i know, but the functionality of the site is good enough for you at the moment. I hope you use it, and most importantly, I hope you spread the word about this website.

Thank you for reading.

Nixon Uzoma Osuala.
(Proud to call Alberta my home)