Are customers willing to comply?Investigating the effectiveness of hospital queuing-recommendation system

Purpose As medical demands and waiting times increase, the significance of hospital queuing-recommendation system (HQS) in reducing hospital congestion is becoming increasingly obvious. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of HQS as well as systematically analyze the influence mechanism of customer compliance from the perspective of time perception dimensions (expected time cost, service progress, perceived time cost). Design/methodology/approach The data are collected regarding the interactions between customers and HQS in a hospital. This study uses the propensity score matching method to verify whether HQS could reduce customer waiting time. The panel binary choice model is employed to explore the mechanism of customer compliance. Findings The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of HQS in reducing customer waiting times. Further analysis reveals that the expected time cost positively influences customer compliance and the service progress negatively influences customer compliance. The perceived time cost reinforces the positive effect of the expected time cost and exacerbates the negative effect of the service progress. Practical implications This study contributes to promoting intelligent medical treatment processes and helps hospitals better understand the psychological mechanism of customer decision-making and provides feasible strategies for improving customer compliance. Originality/value This study focuses on the unique application scenarios of recommendation systems in healthcare. According to the theory of trust judgment, the study reveals the influence mechanism of customer compliance from the perspective of time perception. As a result, the application boundaries of recommendation systems and trust judgment theory are expanded.