Top 5 Medical IT Trends in 2012: Kiosks

Kiosks – Leveraging Technology for Better Results

by Richard Stokes

This post puts me neck and neck with Tony!

patient_check_in_kioskWhether you work in a hospital setting or private practice, healthcare facilities are being squeezed to try to do more with the same.  Combine that with an aging population and an expectation of high service fostered from other industries such as shopping and banking; practices have to look at ways to improve their patients experience while also managing costs.

Depending on the specialty, patient waiting rooms can be busy and at times frustrating for both the patient and the staff.  Implementing a self-check-in kiosk is a great way to improve this process.  A study by NCR Corporation showed that 76% percent of consumers are more likely to choose a healthcare provider that offers flexibility via a tool such as self-check-in kiosk.  In addition to attracting new patients, kiosks also offer a great way to:

  • Speed up the registration process
  • Reduce wait times
  • Increase patient satisfaction
  • Improve and increase accounts receivables by allowing patients to pay co-pays or remit outstanding balances at the time of check-in.

Some kiosk providers such as Clearwave allow physicians to make referrals to other practices via their HIE (Health Information Exchange) platform and instantly communicate complete and accurate patient demographics, thereby delivering more efficient patient care.

2012 will see a continued interest and deployment by healthcare providers into kiosk type technology.  As consumers become more empowered through the use of technology and their expectation levels change, practices will need to continue to adapt to keep them satisfied.

Network 1 Consulting is a 13-year-old, IT Support company in Atlanta, GA.  We become – or augment – the IT department for professional services companies: medical practices, law firms and financial services firms.  Our IT experts can fix computers – but what our clients really value is the industry-specific best practices we bring to their firm.  This is especially important with technology, along with regulations and cyber threats, changing so rapidly.  We take a proactive approach to helping our clients use technology to gain and keep their competitive advantage.

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Richard Stokes: As the Director of Sales for Network 1, Richard identifies “future” clients that can benefit from the support of an experienced, outsourced IT team. He helps clients and prospects find technology solutions they need to achieve better productivity and efficiency so they can focus on making money and growing their businesses.

Network 1 designs, builds and supports the IT you need to run your business more securely, productively and successfully. Whether you want to outsource all of your IT needs to a reliable, responsive, service-oriented company, or need to supplement the work of your internal IT staff, we will carefully evaluate where you are now, discuss where you want to go and implement and support a plan to get you there with as little interruption as possible.

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