Parkland's kiosks speed check-in

Nice addition to the ER room. Although this hospital spent a lot of money in setting this up, there are other cost effective solutions, such as placing a Tablet PC in a Kiosk. Below is a picture from Tablet Kiosk demonstrating how using a tablet with a touch screen can easily accomplish this. Anyone who has a good understanding of Windows technology knows that multi language is no problem and much of this is already built into the Tablets. This solution could work in an physicians office too, as the tablet can be moved and updated with software very easily. Good to see a hospital taking "baby steps" in adding new technology. Baby steps work and are an improvement to better health care and hospitals who take the lead and work with their physicians will be the winners versus those who choose to remain on paper and don't share the wealth of information with the physicians they need on staff. It amazes me too that more hospitals don't take the opportunity to share this type of information with their physicians, but rather leave them out there more or less fending for themselves. The better the sharing, the better the health care...BD

After Vivian Beachum mistook anti-fungal solution for contact lens drops, her first conversation at Parkland Memorial Hospital's emergency room wasn't with a nurse.

A computer asked her where she hurt.
Instead of standing in line – sometimes for hours – just to explain their symptoms at one of the nation's busiest emergency rooms, Parkland patients now type their woes into a computer at one of three automated check-in kiosks. The idea is to keep sick folks from having to stand while waiting, and to more quickly reach patients who might not look sick but whose illness demands immediate attention.
While similar machines are popping up nationally to check in patients at medical clinics, Parkland officials said they believe they are among the first to have a system in a hospital emergency room. A donation through UT Southwestern Medical School paid for the $50,000 project.
Before the system went in, patients could stand for hours, "like a ride at Six Flags," Mr. Ensminger said. Nurses constantly monitored the condition of people waiting – and pulled from the line people who were in obvious need of immediate help.
At the kiosks, patients type in their name, birth date and gender before being led to myriad ailments from which they choose their chief complaint. Patients can choose English or Spanish.
If the first laundry list of problems doesn't fit – allergic reaction, homicidal thoughts, shortness of breath, and so on – patients can point on the screen to a specific body part that hurts. Certain ailments, combined with information like the person's age, are immediately flagged. Monitors in the nurses' station keep a tally of who is waiting, and blinking dots cue them to people who should be seen right away – like an older person with chest pains, for example.

TabletKiosk can develop custom hardware solutions and kiosk encasements to meet your specific project requirements. By establishing key relationships with worldwide manufacturers, TabletKiosk can provide you with the most powerful, cutting edge hardware solutions at the best prices available to help you accomplish your project goals.

Add a nice wedge reader too. The hardware is here and can run any software that any normal notebook or desktop computer can run. BD