Kiosks Help To Level The Healthcare Playing Field
Credit card-enabled kiosks are helping drug stores and big-name retailers, including Wal-Mart, CVS and Target, to gain share of the US health care market. At pharmacies, prescription drug sales account for about 68 per cent of business and this share has to be retained against competitors such as mail-order pharmacies and retailers. Kiosks help pharmacies retain customers by automating patient registration and payments at in-store health centers, while vending machines can be used to dispense repeat prescriptions both in- and out of business hours.In-store health clinics are also the latest tactic for major retailers seeking to become a one-stop point for consumers to buy medical supplies with their groceries and other essentials. For health insurers, a patient visit to one of these clinics costs less than USD 60 on average, versus up to USD 110 for a trip to a doctor, and in some cases patient co-pay is reduced for individuals who visit a clinic. Using web-based kiosks for patient registration at these clinics speeds referrals to local physicians if customers do not already have a doctor, while electronic medical data can be forwarded if necessary.
At primary-care physicians similarly, kiosks can bring patient check-in and eligibility verification from the back-office into the waiting room. Medical providers that install kiosk networks at their premises gain cost savings and workflow efficiencies while introducing a means to securely and transparently exchange patient, insurance, payment and healthcare-related data. Compliance with the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act), which is mandatory since July 2005, can accordingly be achieved by using the network to seamlessly integrate patient data. Related Links:
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