By Nidhi Aswal
Telemedicine, telehealth, or healthcare kiosks are innovative, portable computerized machines integrated with digital technology and an easy-to-use touch screen facility.
With AI (artificial intelligence) rapidly transforming the healthcare industry, the need for healthcare kiosks has expedited during these pandemic times to counter the healthcare sector’s critical challenges, such as patient care management, economic costs, and real-time benefits of advanced telehealth solutions.
Healthcare kiosks will also play a key role in maintaining social distance in the Covid-19 aftermath. This is the time to reduce hospital burden by simplifying procedures that need to be the key focus areas of the healthcare sector: with an updated website for appointments and sharing information using telehealth tools such as health kiosks to reduce delays for emergency patients.
Although physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals work diligently to cure COVID-19 patients, technological researchers design new tools and devices to protect them from the disease’s possible threat.
In coming days, rather than making a doctor’s appointment or heading to the nearest emergency treatment facility, patients would go to the nearest telehealth kiosk to connect with the health care provider and get almost immediate updates on anything from cough and cold to pink-eye or even chronic disease management, and follow-up after surgery.
HEALTH KIOSKS CHANGING THE MEDICAL LANDSCAPE
With the arrival of the telehealth kiosk, you will be able to make a digital appointment within a few seconds, just like taking out cash from an ATM. It’s going to be faster, easier, and more convenient for outpatients who want to go to the doctor to get their health check-ups done. There would no longer be a need to carry old X-ray or MRI scan reports, bundles of prescriptions, and then a long wait in the queue for your turn.
In a doctor’s office or pharmacy, kiosks will encourage patients to sign in and change their health records, freeing up office personnel and giving the doctor or nurse a more detailed description of the appointment before they can see the patient. This will make the real doctor-patient experience more positive on both sides, eventually enhancing both the health outcome and patient satisfaction.
Most importantly, in a heavy-traffic emergency room, health kiosks can allow hospital staff to collect patient data such as symptoms, personal details, and payment options before sending a nurse or doctor. In some instances, the kiosk will connect the patient to a doctor in another place, possibly screen out non-emergency cases that cause chaos in the emergency department, save the doctor’s time, and keep only a severe patient queue list.
Organizations integrated with employee wellness programs have Apollo’s telemedicine set up, where employees can virtually consult a doctor without leaving the office. Large employer-sponsored health consumers see health kiosks as a critical component of their policy to expand access to medical care, reduce costs, and maximize productivity.
HEALTH KIOSK BENEFITS FOR PATIENTS
- Digital appointment with just a touch.
- High-quality patient experience, with identification security.
- Real-time eligibility search, offering an early institutional confirmation message.
- Real-time demographic verification to ensure the accuracy of data collected and alert notification.
- Hospital direction and automated patient check-ins.
- Personalized marketing, reaching even invisible customers.
BENEFITS FOR THE HOSPITALS AND HEALTHCARE ORGANISATION
- Streamlined, fast, error-free healthcare operations.
- A significant amount of time-saving and better patient queue management.
- High-tech hospital administrative operations with improved patient care and cost benefits.
- Reduced expensive labor costs and minimal manual documentation requirements.
BENEFITS FOR VENDORS
- Cost-effective delivery.
- Minimal maintenance requirement.
- Vendor credentials database and remote monitoring software solution features.
- Staff email alerts and real-time managing interface.
- The demand for health kiosks is booming, a great futuristic opportunity for vendors across the country.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
A Survey by Verified Market Research shows that the Global Health Kiosk Market has been expanding at a faster rate with solid growth rates in recent years. It is expected to grow dramatically in the forecasted timeframe, i.e., 2019 to 2026.
The security issues associated with health kiosks are impeding the market’s progress. Digital payments are approved at health kiosks, and as payment systems and cashless solutions develop, the potential risk of an intrusion has risen over time. These healthcare kiosks run on applications that may be obsolete, and as a result, security gaps may be overlooked, posing a security danger.
Furthermore, the industry is expected to expand due to an increase in demand for cloud computing solutions in medical facilities. Companies are now concentrating their efforts on designing high-utility systems that provide tailored treatment. As a result, the influence of COVID-19 has undoubtedly offered a tremendous opportunity for the health kiosk industry.
CONCLUSION
When populations continue to emerge from the dark again after the pandemic, it is anticipated that revolutionary innovations such as health kiosks and related telemedicine services will be the new paradigm for the future of healthcare. One of the digital options to make healthcare routine work easier and less time-intensive is to use a healthcare kiosk.
Nidhi is a former pharmacist turned writer and editor. As a freelancer, she is a multi-niche SEO content writer. You can find more of her work on vedicinstinct.com. She is always enthusiastic about learning and sharing how to make the world a better place.
See the social media links below to know more about the author.
