Checking in
P.E.I. examining self-serve admitting kiosks at two largest hospitals
Patients may be turning to kiosks rather than admission staff to check into hospital in Charlottetown and Summerside in the future. Health P.E.I. is exploring the option to implement self-serve admitting kiosks at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown and Prince County Hospital in Summerside to potentially speed up the admitting process. “Hospitals across the country and within the Maritime region have introduced self-serve admitting kiosks in recent years, enhancing the admitting service already being delivered by admitting clerks,’’ Health P.E.I. said in an email to The Guardian. “If introduced, self-serving kiosks will provide another option for admitting; for those who may not be comfortable with using such technology, admitting staff would be available to them.’’ Many Islanders register through admitting departments for in-patient and same-day health services every day. Health P.E.I. noted hospitals are continually looking at opportunities to introduce technology that supports efficiency and the patient experience. Health P.E.I. recently met with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), and hospital management met with their admitting staff about the possibility of this new initiative and will continue to do so over the coming weeks and months. “Any introduction of new technology will be done in accordance with collective agreements,’’ added a Health P.E.I. spokesperson. “Hospitals are in the early exploratory planning stages. Once that work is done, then a more formal approach will be confirmed. The intention is for this to complement the existing admitting services.’’ Paul Beauregard, local business representative of the IUOE, says the union has concerns with how implementation of kiosks would impact the roughly 35 employees working in the admitting area of the two Island hospitals. “The first thing is we have received little information to date,’’ says Beauregard. “We’re looking at possible job cuts here,’’ he adds. Beauregard says the message he has received is that Health P.E.I. is going ahead with the kiosks. The QE II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax put in kiosks in 2011 with great success, says Judi Randell, manager of registration with the Nova Scotia Health Authority. “Absolutely, we are pleased,’’ she says. “It really helps with the patient flow. People are not being bottlenecked.’’ Randell notes some patients “were fearful’’ of the kiosks at first but they caught on quickly. “Some patients miss the faceto-face (interaction),’’ she adds. However, Beauregard believes the kiosks will create added stress for patients. “It will obviously cause problems,’’ he says.