Oak Valley and Patient Self-Check-In Kiosks in the ED

Ontario’s Oak Valley Hospital (OVH) Emergency Department (ED) has achieved impressive adoption of patient self-check-in kiosks since its launch approximately 18 months ago, handling around 1500 weekly patient check-ins. This summarises why and how it started, current operations, and future improvements.

The Problem with Emergency Departments

Emergency Departments are notoriously known for long patient wait times and crowded waiting areas.

OVH wanted a better way to deploy the triage process to keep patients safe and manage patients based on acuity and presenting complaints. The solution should also serve as a pre-triage and pre-registration tool, which would flow information to downstream systems such as the electronic medical record (EMR) and electronic Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (eCTAS) to retain the data integrity of all systems.

The Solution – Patient Self-Check-In Kiosks in the Emergency Department

The solution to all of these problems is to implement a patient self-check-in process through the use of kiosks. Here is the process that Savience implemented with Oak Valley Emergency Department.

1. Background and Initial Implementation

• Previous Success in OPD: Following successful self-serve kiosk check-in deployment in Oak Valley’s Outpatient Department (OPD), which streamlined patient registration and improved staff allocation, OVH extended kiosk check-in to the ED.
• ED-Specific Adjustments: Unlike the OPD, ED patients arrive unpredictably without pre-scheduled appointments. Savience’s solution is designed to gather essential patient data on arrival, using either a health card or basic demographic information, and then pass this data to Oak Valley’s EMR through a matching service.

2. Registration and Data Matching Workflow

The data that patients input during their self-check-in process will scan the current records and give them a match type.

Match Types:

• Full Match: Complete data verification with the EMR.
• Partial Match: Minor data inconsistencies.
• No Match: No record found in EMR.

• Patient Routing: Patients are then directed to a triage area or registration clerk for additional identification if there is no full match.
• Privacy Focus: Once kiosk registration is complete, patients receive a printed call number, ensuring confidentiality as only this number is used when patients are called.

3. Integration with Clarity and Downstream Systems

The data collected by the self-check-in kiosks is then integrated with our Clarity system and other hospital systems to ensure patients receive the correct level of support during their stay.

• Dashboard Visibility: Patients are visible on the clinical dashboard, Clarity, along with their match status, stated complaint, and call number. Savience also sends an arrival message, along with patient responses to IPAC questions, to the EMR, maintaining synchronization between the EMR and Clarity.
• Language Accessibility: OVH has expanded kiosk language options to include Tamil and Chinese, supporting inclusivity and ease of use for non-English-speaking patients.

4. Future Enhancements

At Savience, we are always looking towards the future. With the implementation of our patient self-check-in kiosks, Oak Valley ED also have the options to enhance their patient experience through options including;

• Patient Calling Integration: OVH is advancing its ED solution with plans to install television screens connected to media players. This enhancement will enable patient calling by displaying their call numbers on screens in the waiting area, further automating the patient flow and minimizing the need for verbal communication in crowded areas.
• Live TV and Wait Times: The TV’s will also live stream TV (CP24) and real time waiting times. These will be integrated into the calling boards.

5. The Measure of Success

• Outcomes: Savience and OVH have created a solution which fully integrates with the EMR and downstream to eCTAS. It maintains data and patient integrity with the complex use of integration and the simplicity of patient call numbers, while supporting staff in the department to prioritize cases and cut down on resources to register patients, enabling staff to be distributed to where they are most needed.

Patient Self-Check-In Kiosks from Savience

This strategic rollout and the planned improvements underscore OVH’s commitment to optimizing patient flow, improving staff allocation, and enhancing patient privacy and accessibility in the Emergency Department.

If these are elements you are looking into improving in your healthcare facility, contact Savience today to discuss how technology can be implemented into your systems.