Emergency Rooms across the country (that can afford it) will be introducing brand new technology into their hospitals in the coming months. It isn't for the operating table or a new toy for nurses. The machines are for you and me to use. Long waiting times have plagued ERs for quite some time, resulting in the deaths of many under-served would-be patients.
When you arrive at the hospital, you might think you are at an airport ready to check yourself in for a flight. Well if you can manage an airport then maybe you can check yourself into the hospital with the same technology. Though this solution does not go to the heart of the problem, it is a fancy band-aid at least for ERs.
From the AP:
DALLAS (AP) — An emergency room might be the last place you'd think would have do-it-yourself check-in.
But Parkland Memorial Hospital has three self-service computer kiosks, similar to those used by airport passengers and hotel guests. And so do a handful of other hospital ERs, where the long wait in line to register and explain symptoms can be grueling.
True emergency cases — gunshot or car crash victims with serious injuries — are still rushed in for treatment. But patients like Rickey Washington, a diabetic concerned about numbness in his hands and feet, find it fairly simple to sign in by computer.
So gunshot victims can still get preferential treatment but ordinary folks can skip the lines. Well if you can get an airline ticket, why not one to a doctor? And of course, let an orderly sop up the mess you made, you are paying for the service.....dearly.
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