Congrats, St. Jude!
Congratulations to St. Jude Medical Center of Fullerton, California, for their new distinction as a Magnet Hospital, an honor only given to 8% of hospitals nationwide. St. Jude also has been recognized as one the best regional hospitals of Los Angeles, CA for 2016-2017. Both of these honors prove the high standard of care that St. Jude Medical Center is able to provide their patients. Other awards given to St. Jude’s for 2016 include Blue Distinction, 3 year accreditation for rehabilitation, accreditation by the NAPBC, 2016 Gold Plus Award, Target Stroke Honor Roll-Elite Award, Physicians of Excellence, Proud to be named Top Hospital, Cardiac Surgery Ranks Among Nation’s Best, and Critical Care Unit’s National Recognition.
With over 17,000 admissions for the 2016 Fiscal Year and over 14,000 surgeries, physicians and staff at St. Jude Medical Center began to rely on technology to create the most efficient experience possible for their patients. St. Jude’s praises their facility as, “one of Southern California’s most respected and technologically advanced hospitals”. One of the ways St. Jude Medical Center has upheld these standards of patient care is by implementing self-service technology last October to their patient check-in and registration process.
“We wanted a more efficient check-in process and a mechanism to show the patients where they were in the queue“, said Serge Crawford, IT Support Manager of St. Jude’s.
Self-Service Solution: Countertop Kiosks and QLine
As a response to this need for a more efficient check-in process, the hospital installed two Countertop Kiosks with our queueing software, QLine. When asked how the patients have felt about using self-service technology for the check-in and registration process, Crawford responded that it has been, “pretty easy so far”. St. Jude Medical Center also opted in to add a license I.D. reader to make registration easier for its patients.
“We had the License ID reader added to the kiosks as well because we wanted that feature too to reduce backlog at the kiosk. We added the reader to get as much information as possible with just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ checkbox to confirm the information”, said Crawford.
Instead of filling in every single box at registration, now the patient just slides the card, and confirms the personal information.
Another function of the kiosks is their quick sign-in function with the use of QLine, our premium queueing software. “We have a quick sign-in where the patient can make appointments via quick sign-in”. Not only can the patient check-in using this function, but they can also make appointments at St. Jude Medical Center via kiosk. To be added to the queue, the patient confirms their existing appointment and can see their place in line and wait time to be seen. These functions are useful for hospitals because they save time both for the clients as well as the employees. By automating these simple tasks, the receptionists are able to focus on more important tasks and functions.
Advanced Kiosks: An Affordable Option
When implementing self-service technology, it’s important to explore options. Accessibility, design, and price are just a few differentiating factors in choosing a kiosk manufacturer. Crawford, as a professional in Information Technology, did her research and was impressed with the prices that Advanced Kiosks had to offer. She had noted, “Your price point is good too. We talked to a couple other vendors, but their prices were higher”. We’re happy to know that while our product is high-quality, and made from commercial grade products, it stays affordable and accessible to most any industry. At Advanced Kiosks, we do our best to keep costs low and never sacrifice our product quality or integrity.
The Future
Serge Crawford had expressed great plans for St. Jude Medical Center and self-service technology. It all starts with looking for the best way to receive the correct information for their patients. “I think so far the kiosk is achieving what we want it to, now it’s just about how to capture the right information from our patients”. Using additions like the license I.D. reader is a step in the right direction for receiving information from clientele. Luckily, with self-service technology, the possibilities are endless for what you can do to improve check-in and registration.
The staff at St. Jude’s, for example, are seeing the benefit and want these kiosks in all the departments of the hospital.
“We see a lot of possibilities for it and we’re really excited. Once we have all the answers, radiology wants to implement kiosks because they see it as a way that they can have patients check-in through the radiology department”.
Over time, the plan would ensure that patients of every department in the hospital have the opportunity to use self-service technology.
Overall, St. Jude Medical Center seems to be benefiting greatly from the power of self-service technology. Kiosks are often used for this purpose, as well as information sharing, wayfinding, and much more.
To learn more about St. Jude, click the LINK.
To read more in-depth information regarding the countertop kiosk, click this LINK.
For more information regarding kiosks in healthcare facilities, click this LINK
