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Patient Check-In Technologies Cut Cost, Wait Times

By Anna Webster, for HealthLeaders Media  
   February 28, 2011

Kiosks and automated check-in processes are making their way from the airport lobby to the doctor's office.

Eighty-nine percent of physicians polled in the 2011 HealthLeaders Industry Survey say they have or will have electronic health records in place within two years, what many consider the first step in streamlining the check-in process.

Physician practices are adopting touchscreen tablets, kiosks, or patient portals that automate the check-in process, resulting in shorter wait times, reduced errors, and lower labor costs.

Check-in technology solutions can allow:

  • Patients to update personal medical information
  • Patients to find out their copays
  • Physician practices to streamline billing and claims processes by automatically verifying insurance eligibility and benefits.

Vanguard Urologic Institute in Houston, TX, is one such practice taking on the challenge of automating patient check-in. The four-member specialty practice places a high value on embracing new ideas and technologies that can benefit its patients.

Since it's opening in 2008, Vanguard has utilized NCR MediKiosk, a self-service patient check-in kiosk that integrates with existing practice management software, collects outstanding balances, captures consent signatures/HIPAA forms, and enables patients to enter personal health information.

After observing paper chart check-ins for 15 years as director of The Baylor Prostate Center in Houston,Kevin Slawin, MD, founder of the Vanguard Urologic Institute, says the number of lost charts and data errors declines with technology solutions such as Medikiosk.

"It lessens the work that I wouldn't consider high value and the patients can do itbetter. I think job satisfaction is higher when you are doing more interesting work," he says.

Slawin says the technology also gives administrators greater control over the practice. For example, administrators can monitor waiting times and patient satisfaction. As part of the check-in process, patients are given the opportunity to fill out a brief satisfaction survey. The 2010 results found:

  • 39.25% of patients found check-in easy
  • 53.39% of patients found check-in average
  • 7.37% of patients found check-in difficult

In 2010, Vanguard saw an average of 15.28 patients per day and the average patient wait time was 2.44 minutes---the national average is 21.3 minutes, according to a 2010 NCR case study.

"On days when patients are rating check-in as difficult we can monitor that and adjust staffing as necessary to fix any problems," says Joe Reyes, Vanguard’s manager of technology and health informatics.

Pros and cons

Patient check-in technologies such as MediKiosk require an upfront cost for installation. But Slawin says now that his practice has made the investment, Vanguard can open new offices with amplified savings in labor costs---ranked by healthcare executives as the No. 2 cost driver for healthcare organizations according to the 2011 HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey. The cost of the technology is offset reduced number of clerical staff needed to maintain new office branch.

"On the employee side it is less difficult, when I add more doctors I don't have to add more employees," Slawin says.

However, the process of adopting an electronic check-in process does not come with an end date, he adds. Two potential roadblocks include:

1. Interface synergy. "Adopting the system was difficult at first, the main kinks were trying connect check-in software with the practice management software…even with standard interfaces it requires someone to organize all these teams," Slawin says. Vanguard has a project manager in charge of implementing interfaces and keeping healthcare information secure.

2. ROI outcomes. Check-in technology may be beneficial and reduce costs for larger practices, but smaller practices may have more difficulties, Slawin warns.

"Since we're a growing group practice and we're dependent on IT, there were enough strategic benefits to adoption. Once you have two-five physicians I think it warrants it within a practice," he says. "Solo practitioners would not be likely to succeed because it's expensive and we had to build a lot of [the interfaces] ourselves. Most physicians would not have time because they are overworked and overwhelmed."

For practices looking to adopt a program like MediKiosk to monitor the patient check-in process, Slawin recommends the following three strategies:

  1. Adopting electronic health records
  2. Selecting a kiosk or web portal
  3. Hiring an information technology point person to design the interface to your practice's needs

 


Anna Webster is Online Content Coordinator at HealthLeaders Media. She can be reached at awebster@hcpro.com.

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