A group of hospitals within a Pennsylvania health system have set up touch-screen kiosks allowing patients to control much of their initial contact with the facility. Hospitals within the Heritage Valley Health System now allow patients to use the kiosks to log in with their name and information, then as appropriate, check themselves in for blood work, x-rays and other non-emergency procedures. The system, which serves about 350,000 patients in a year, also allows patients to swipe a Care Card with more information on their case. About two-thirds of patients use the Care Card, introduced in 2004, which unlocks health insurance information and, if they're in the ED, automatically adds them to a waiting list. The systems typically strip down entry times from ten minutes to two minutes, according to health system CIO David Carleton. And the kiosks also offer data performance snapshots in real time, so if the kiosks get bogged down, IT executives can find out quickly.
To get more information on the patient data implementation:
- read this Sewickey Herald article