At the beginning of February this year, Methodist Hospitals implemented a self-service kiosk at Pavillion A on its Southlake Campus in Merrillville. Performance Manager Eric Pertzborn believes Pavillion A was an excellent location to roll out Methodist Hospitals’ first kiosk as it will alleviate wait times for patients in a high-traffic area.
“Hospitals can be confusing, and we're trying to make that process smoother and more straight forward,” Pertzborn said. “Patients still have a traditional option: where they go in, meet one or more of the registrars, and go through the registration process. Patients can also use eCheck-In, which we've had in place for many years. The kiosk is a third option for patients that they can do on their own. We believe people will gravitate to using the kiosk because we see kiosks in so many other industries like stores, airports, and movie theaters.”
With this third check-in method, Methodist Hospitals is putting control in the patient’s hands, allowing patients to bypass lines and minimize wait times. In less than a month, Pertzborn has witnessed a 50-60% reduction in the time patients spend in the waiting room thanks to the self-service kiosk.
Beyond checking in for appointments, the self-service kiosk is equipped with a scanner, enabling patients to scan their driver’s licenses, the front and back of their insurance cards, and other items needed for registration. Patients can also take care of electronically signed documents, consent to treatment, view financial policies, make copays, check balances, sign up for MyChart, and more. The kiosk even goes so far as to supply the finer, human elements of the check-in process, such as directions for scheduled appointments
“We wanted to make sure that the process is smooth. There are several service areas in Pavilion A, so at the end when a patient checks in or registers for their particular appointment, the kiosk gives them customized instructions about exactly where to go for that appointment and prevents them from getting confused or lost,” Pertzborn said.
As patients continue to use the self-service kiosk, Methodist Hospitals plans to assess what new features it can add to the kiosk. After fine-tuning the kiosk at the Southlake Campus, Methodist Hospitals anticipates that it will roll out more kiosks at additional locations this year to help each hospital campus continue to innovate and grow.
“Part of the reason why we implemented the kiosk at Methodist is because, two years ago, we celebrated 100 years of servicing patients. This is just one of several initiatives underway to continue providing that service and compassionate care for the next 100 years,” Pertzborn said.
For more information about Methodist Hospitals, visit methodisthospitals.org.