Austria ends QR code tracking of healthcare referrals
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The Vorarlberg region of Austria discontinued a system that used QR codes to track patients referred by the 1450 health advice hotline.
The regional government implemented the QR code system to determine how often the hotline directed people to seek care at hospital outpatient clinics. Patients who received a recommendation to visit a clinic received a text message or email containing a code they could present upon arrival.
However, internal evaluations revealed that few patients actually presented and had their codes scanned at the clinics. As a result, officials determined the QR code system did not provide enough benefit to continue. Now, the Vorarlberg government will track patients using their E-Cards, Austria’s national health insurance cards, to monitor the hotline’s impact on directing patients to appropriate care.
Health Councilor Martina Rüscher noted that the region sees a comparatively high number of calls to the hotline and has a higher rate of self-sufficiency in healthcare, requiring fewer emergency services.
