Infographic as a PDF: Healthcare Kiosks for Patients and Providers
Healthcare Kiosks: Better for Patients. Better for Providers.
In 2014, healthcare spending in the United States is estimated to have exceeded $3.1 trillion, which equates to $9,695 per person. That represents a 5.5% increase over 2014, which is the first time that healthcare expenses grew at a rate higher than 5% since 2007.
With these rising costs, healthcare is becoming more competitive as consumers shop around for the most cost-effective solutions and providers are looking to cut their bottom-line costs. As a result, Verona healthcare kiosks are seeing rapid growth as they can provide convenience to consumers and cost-savings to providers.
Millions of Hours More Efficient!
In 2012, Americans made over 1.2 billion individual visits to a healthcare provider. If each visit required an average of 10-15 minutes to fill out paperwork, that amounts to 200-300 million hours spent by patients on the check-in process.
In 2009, it was estimated that healthcare kiosks were creating a 50% more efficient check-in process. Today, with the advent of improved biometric technologies, such as retina scanners, the patient check-in process is even more efficient.
With a mere 50% improvement in time spent on check-in paperwork, patient check-in kiosks would save 100-150 million hours per year in paperwork!
Additionally, if an office admin spends 5 minutes to type the paperwork information into a computer, that is 100 million hours spent on a task that can be completely eliminated with healthcare kiosks!
ADA Compliant Kiosks for Easy Access
The American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) has strict requirements as it pertains to the design of healthcare kiosks in order ensure that users with limited access capabilities can fully use the machine.
Olea’s Cambridge Healthcare Kiosk is fully ADA compliant and is designed to provide easy access for all patient users.
The adjustable extended front console accommodates wheelchair users without requiring any adjustment to the unit, and is compliant with forward approach ADA requirements.
The standard components on the Cambridge, including a magnetic card reader, a secure PIN pad, an electronic signature capture pad, a duplex ID scanner, and printer, are all designed for ease of access by all patients.
The Growth of Telemedicine through Kiosks
“Telemedicine” involves the use of communication and monitoring technologies to allow doctors to provide remote patient consultations and diagnoses.
Telemedicine is on the rapid rise, as evidenced by the following statistics:
- 89% of healthcare executives expect telemedicine to transform healthcare in the next decade.
- The global market for telemedicine is expected to grow from $11.6 billion in 2011 to $27.3 billion in 2016.
- Revenues from telehealth devices and services is expected to reach $4.5 billion in 2018, up from $440.6 million in 2013.
- An estimated 7 million patients will use telehealth services in 2018, up from 350,000 in 2013.
- As telemedicine grows, it is estimated to provide $6 billion a year in savings to U.S. companies.
- The percentage of healthcare employers offering telemedicine is expected to reach 37% in 2015, up from 22% in 2014.
Healthcare Kiosks for Pharmaceuticals
One of the next generations of healthcare kiosks is the development of automated self-dispensing pharmaceutical kiosks.
Thus far, automated pharmacy kiosks have been deployed in limited instances, but the early success shows that there is a strong future for this technology in the healthcare industry.
In 2014, Chicago’s Mercy Hospital deployed an automated pharmaceutical kiosk that allows patients to fill prescriptions on-the-spot for common medications. The kiosk provides live, two-way audiovisual communication with a pharmacist 24-hours a day to answer any questions and provide counseling on how to use the medication. Based on these early successes, the automated pharmacy industry is expected to grow rapidly and reach $7.8 billion by 2018!
