More and more health providers are discovering how MEDENT’s self-check-in kiosks can cut down patient wait times, as the company sold its 100th kiosk in September.

While complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) privacy regulations, a MEDENT kiosk simultaneously serves patients and health practices. A patient — whether they’re attending a scheduled appointment or looking for walk-in services — can independently check in by using a driver’s license, a patient portal sign-in or a unique QR code that’s been delivered prior to an appointment. On the office side, as patient wait times are trimmed by kiosk check-ins, paperwork can be easily completed while eliminating the possibility of front desk staff forgetting to give patients their forms.

“We give about 6,000 flu shots a year, and before we were using paper forms that we had to print, copy and scan,” said Lynne Thomas, Revenue Cycle Manager for Calvert Internal Medicine Group. Calvert first began using MEDENT kiosks in September 2018, and now utilizes nine kiosks at three of its five Maryland locations .

“Just recently, we added our influenza consent form to the kiosk. This is the first year we added that form to the kiosk and it seems to be going very well,” Thomas said.

MEDENT’s kiosks are also programmed to notify office staff of a patient’s arrival along with completed tasks like payments or any updates made to a patient’s information. The kiosks also track productivity, so an office can track how often they’re used.

James Atwell, Calvert’s Operations Manager, added that Medent’s kiosks have been reliable when it comes to shortening patient check-in times.

MEDENT self-check-in kiosks at one of Calvert Internal Medicine’s Maryland locations.

“Some people have said we’ve lost a bit of a personal touch (by using the kiosks), but I think when they understand the convenience of checking in on their own time and not waiting five or 10 minutes for someone to check them in, it goes a long way,” Atwell said.

“With the kiosks, patients can be checked in and seated in a room in a quick fashion … and you have to remember that the kiosk will never call out sick, so it’ll always be there.”

Privacy is a big priority of MEDENT’s, which is why it is imperative to protect patients’ information even as they use check-in kiosks.

“We use privacy screens on all of our kiosks so it’s to the point where you really have to be standing directly behind the user or patient to really see what is going on the screen,” Atwell said. “Someone standing next to them will not be able to see what’s on the screen.”

More information on MEDENT’s self-check-in kiosks can be found at Medent.com.