At Heritage Valley Health System in Beaver, PA, patient flow was a major concern, as it has been for many facilities nationwide.
The facility was well aware of the long process patients had to go through to be seen by a physician. In 2006, it implemented electronic kiosks along with a Care Card to help the registration process move more efficiently and maintain constant patient flow.
"Modeled in part on successful implementations in both the airline and hospitality industries, the board and senior management of Heritage Valley developed a strategic plan for enabling and promoting greater consumer participation in the healthcare process through various self-service initiatives," says Robert Swaskoski, director of enterprise resource systems at HVHS.
The Care Card, a plastic ID card that comes in two sizes, one to put in your wallet and the other to snap on a keychain, uses a bar code with a unique identifying number that assists in patient identification at the initial point of registration. The card also functions as a portal that patients use to access their personal care records for HVHS.
Upon scanning the Care Card at a kiosk, the patient is reminded of any tests or exams scheduled for the day. Also, the patient can give any required information at the kiosk.
Goals for the system
HVHS designed the system to address a major patient complaint: the often mind-numbingly long wait times.
"The primary goal of the kiosk was to improve the patient experience by streamlining the administrative processes so that redundant tasks were eliminated and wait times were reduced, thus improving the total time required to provide healthcare services," says Swaskoski.
Prior to the implementation of the Care Card and kiosks, the average patient wait time was 37 minutes. The time was measured from the point patients entered the door to when their lab results were completed.
"The patients had to wait to see a registrar, complete the registration interview process, then wait again to receive their service," says Swaskoski.
Since the Care Card and kiosks were introduced in 2006, HVHS reduced the average wait time to 25 minutes.
"The kiosk check-in averages less than two minutes, and many patients can proceed directly to their place of service as soon as they are finished. The activity monitor that supports the kiosk further improves the process by providing the clinical staff with a real-time view of all patients that are waiting for services and who is next in the queue," says Swaskoski.
The wait time does not include lab test result times, but HVHS is in the process of developing integration between systems so that test results can be directly delivered and available to the patient online, Swaskoski explains.
In addition to cutting down wait time, the Care Card and kiosks have also given staff members more time to focus on patients instead of registration and saved HVHS an average of $1,400 per day, simply by eliminating paperwork and reducing labor costs.
The process also provides a better, more accurate way to gather information and improve the quality of data. HVHS has placed 40 kiosks at six outpatient locations, with plans to expand into the EDs of its two facilities?Heritage Valley Beaver and Heritage Valley Sewickley?as well as physician offices and other outpatient satellite locations, says Swaskoski.
Patients were accepting of the new process because many of them were familiar with the idea of self-service solutions and using kiosks, he says.
Additionally, having fully trained and knowledgeable staff members to help with this new system increased patient acceptance.
"The success of our self-service initiatives and the benefits for both our patients and staff is the result of much more that just the installation of kiosks," says Swaskoski. "Having a clearly defined mission and being encouraged by the board and senior management to make changes, take chances, and learn from our mistakes is absolutely essential to creating solutions, which will improve the delivery of healthcare."