ER Kiosks Let Patients Check In Unassisted

Computer Check-Ins At Hospitals Reduce Long Lines, Help Nurses Identify Most Urgent Cases

(AP)  An emergency room might be the last place you'd think would have do-it-yourself check-in.

But Parkland Memorial Hospital has three self-service computer kiosks, similar to those used by airport passengers and hotel guests. And so do a handful of other hospital ERs, where the long wait in line to register and explain symptoms can be grueling.

True emergency cases - gunshot or car crash victims with serious injuries - are still rushed in for treatment. But patients like Rickey Washington, a diabetic concerned about numbness in his hands and feet, find it fairly simple to sign in by computer.

"Once you look and see, it's kind of easy," said Washington, 44.

Besides offering patients more privacy, the kiosks should help nurses identify the most urgent cases.

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey plans to install check-in kiosks in its ER within the next couple months.

"Patients don't always know if their symptom is potentially bad or serious," said Dr. Marc Borenstein, chairman and residency program director for the department of emergency medicine at Beth Israel.

Parkland's administrators say patients have been spared the long check-in lines since the kiosks arrived. The hospital's ER handles about 300 cases a day.

"It's helping us find the people that we need to see right now," said Jennifer Hay, unit manager for the ER department.

Patients spend about eight minutes at the kiosks, using touch screens to enter their name, age, and other personal information. The computer shows the patient a list of ailments to choose from, like "pain" or "fever and/or chills" and a list of body parts to indicate where it hurts.

Previously, a nurse checked in patients and took their vital signs as lines at the ER got longer and frustration mounted.

"If it's getting people to be able to sit down and not be in a long line, then it's good," said Dr. Brian Keaton, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Once the patient's problem is entered into the system, it pops up on a screen accessible to the nurses. Those with chest pains, stroke symptoms or other worrisome complaints take priority.

But for patients with lesser complaints, even computer kiosks can't eliminate the "wait" from ER waiting rooms. It still often takes a couple of hours for a nurse to check their vital signs, and several more to see a doctor.

John Lovelock, research director for industry research firm Gartner Inc., said patients may initially hesitate to use the kiosks, but repeat customers realize they're saving time.

"I think the public is absolutely ready for this," he said.

One family practice and urgent care center in Cookeville, Tenn., has used computer kiosks and hand-held electronic devices to get patient information since opening just over a year ago, said Kara Hufstedler, a systems manager for Satellite Med.

"We had some people who loved it. We had some people who didn't. The staff helps anyone who needs it," she said.

Brandie Glover, 27, of Dallas, said she first thought the kiosks at Parkland were "weird."

"I thought it was kind of impersonal, but at the same time, it's a quicker process," said Glover, who came to the ER with neck and ear pain. But after waiting for more than three hours without seeing a doctor, Glover decided to leave without getting treated.

Hays said that shortening the check-in time only addresses part of the problem. Like other hospitals, she said, Parkland is also trying to find ways to improve the overall wait time in its emergency room.

[sjw1253]

Visits to the ER should be a rare experience - if it''''s a frequent experience - you are probably abusing the system.

Posted by oleander8 at 07:51 AM : Sep 14, 2007

* * * *
oleander8 - Your comment stems from ignorance. The fact is that there are many people on this earth who have chronic serious diseases (cancer is included) - are followed by an army of physicians - and who continually are sent to the ER by their physicans to help control many problems that cannot be addressed in their offices.

Even though the patient may already be determined to be definitely admitted - or there for blood transfusions or diagnostic testing that may not be available on a "that day basis" - (to mention only a couple of examples) - they are still subjected to the same triage and waiting for up to and exceeding 12 hours...

The system is far from perfect but in order to manage chronic serious diseases/illnesses - the ER is the only way that a person can be living as an outpatient (which is not even their choice either - due to insurance rules that get the patient in and out as fast as possible) - can survive.

[oleander8]

"The wait time in ER has gotten longer and longer over the years." [Posted by incog-nito]

Visits to the ER should be a rare experience - if it''s a frequent experience - you are probably abusing the system.

[eggy1620]

You literally need to have to be near death before they even look at you - Posted by incog-nito

That is what ER%u2019s should be about, duh. EMERGENCY. These self check ins are just another proof of how people are misusing ER departments in place of PCP visits or urgent care centers.

[incog-nito]

The wait time in ER has gotten longer and longer over the years. The last time I was there it was over 5 hours. You literally need to have to be near death before they even look at you. The health care system is bankrupt. Exploding costs year after year while your coverage is being reduced, with overpaid millionaire doctors and insurance companies soaking up the money. And this trend will continue with no end in sight. Even corporations know that this system is hurting their competitiveness. The only people still supporting this system are insurance companies, and idiots.

[hypnotoad72]

Splendid! When I''m dying of a heart attack or stroke, I''ll be sure to type in my name, social security #, birth date, address, telephone number, shoe size, birth certificate, favorite brand of prophylactics, if I can make balloon doggies with said brand of prophylactics, next of kin references, job references, death certificate, and how much credit card debt I owe. Oh, and if I prefer milk chocolate, white chocolate, or dark chocolate with my morphine, okey dokey...

Assuming I''m lucid enough at the time.

What next, kiosks with robotic arms to replace doctors yet cost twice as much? I thought ATMs were expensive...

[foranc]

one sure way to make emergency rooms even worse than they are now. HELLO!!! If you aren''t on welfare or an illegal alien, you are actually SICK or INJURED when you go to an emergency room and not capable of checking yourself in!! What will the insurance & health care industry come up with next!? This country is going to hell in a handcart at 100 mph and no brakes!!!