This little gizmo was placed in one of our facility's lobbies this week. (No, it's not being used to get your boarding pass on your way to the airport, but it is amazing the parallels health care is taking with the airline industry):
Click to enlarge
Instead, it's used to check in patients presenting to have their blood drawn for prothromin times.
Click to enlarge
Just swipe your credit card, confirm your appointment, sign your name, and away you go!
On seeing this, one doctor exclaimed, "But INR checks are my patient's only chance to get out and socialize!"
Fortunately for now there are still helpful assistants there to help them learn how to use the device.
-Wes
5 comments:
That is just... wow....
It boggles my sheltered Canadian mind!
xx
Jaxs
Orthodontists have had similar computerized check-in for a few years, but they still have receptionists to answer phones, schedule appointments, etc.
My orthodontist does this - they have a computer where the patient types their last name and it pulls up name and appointment time. Once the patient confirms, the system lets the hygienist (is that the right word for an orthodontist's assistant?) know their patient has arrived.
The orthodontist in my hometown still wins - they run a van service between their office and the middle school. The parents sign a note that their child is being treated there and the orthodontist's office lets the school know who they're taking and when.
A similar gizmo just showed up in my internist's office, but it's like the orthodondist's one: it's just for checking in, doesn't take payments. I think the goal is to let patients check in as soon as they arrive, no matter how many people are standing in line waiting to pay or make follow-up appointments.
Johns Hopkins hospital cancer center has one of these. It won't let you check in if you have an outstanding payment, however. I thought that was kind of crass.
bev M.D.
Post a Comment