A large part of the medical system comprises the measures taken for patient care and management. There are new systems, new policies, new advancements left, right, and center in order to make medical care easily accessible and hassle-free for the patient, hospital staff, and the doctors. One of these new advancements includes a patient self-check-in kiosk which has significantly increased the efficiency of the check-in process. There are several different types of kiosks and these have been incorporated into other industries successfully over time. Let us find out if such automated systems are actually beneficial for a healthcare facility and fit into the medical industry or create extra work for the staff.
Functions of the patient-facing kiosk
It is necessary to acquaint the patients and readers with the actual functions of a patient-facing or patient self-check-in kiosk. This will help in popularizing the use of the digital gadget as the patients will be aware of the mechanism of the machine. A few important roles that a kiosk can fill in for are; checking the doctor’s appointments, secure patient identification, demographics verification in real-time or records and collection accuracy, act as an early administrative check-point, alert notifications, outstanding balance, and co-pay collection in a simple manner, prescription refilling, and provisioning facility center directions.
Enhanced patient management
Smooth processing from the front desk to the doctor’s office is significant to make the patient’s experience hassle-free. The kiosks help in achieving this by implementing proper patient control. Most patients have similar technology that is integrated into their lives and operating the digital kiosk is not much of a problem. The kiosks give greater control to the patients when it comes to payment options and check-in preferences. Certain mobile applications also make it easier for the patients to double-check all the details which ensure greater transparency. Integrating such technology can modify the healthcare experience for the patients as well as make it easier for the staff to handle genuine queries of the patients while leaving the mundane repetitive tasks to the patient self-check-in kiosk.
Speed up the payment procedures
This is by far one of the greatest benefits of the digitalization of the check-in process. The financial transactions are carried out with complete transparency as high deductible health insurance has become a norm in recent days being a cause for major concern. Since the patient’s information regarding copay is collected at the check-in period it accelerates the entire process greatly. The option to expedite the payment process by entering simple information eases the hurdles for the patients. Some kiosks are also able to print the bills and provide medical certificates to the patient as well as acknowledgment slips for the payments made by the patient to the hospital.
Reduces the errors and confusion
The digital kiosks eliminate the chance of human errors made by the administrative staff while storing information during the check-in process. There is a higher level of security while the data is being collected and stored. It also avoids the creation of duplicate consent forms and medical data going into the electronic health record as the kiosk will alert the hospital staff about this error. There is minimal confusion for the patients as well since they can find all the information the one patient self-check-in kiosk like their appointed physician, the hospital map, information about outstanding bills, and such. This saves a lot of time and energy for both patients and staff members.
In conclusion, the self-service approach seems advantageous
Checking-in without the help of the healthcare administration seems more and more convenient to the patients with each passing day. Incorporating the digital kiosks for such functions can surely be considered as a next step in the ladder for the medical facilities. Surely, there are some kinks to figure out and make these kiosks completely user-friendly, and once that happens the process will become extremely flawless and efficient.
