Self-registration speeds up patient registration at central hospital

An easy change that proves the usefulness of information technology

"Even after this short experience, it seems like a real waste of working time to ask patients to provide their information at the reception. Most patients are easily able to register independently using the automatic registration machine, and thus manage to avoid queuing,” says Riitta Lehtonen, head nurse at the Surgical and Orthopaedic Outpatient Department.

Traditional registration at the reception takes between two and ten minutes. At the registration machine, the average registration time is one minute and ten seconds. The quickest customers do it in five seconds.

"Privacy protection is improved, because the machines are equipped with screen protectors and personal information is no longer called out for everyone to hear,” Lehtonen continues.

Reduce time spent on patient registration

From the hospital’s perspective, the machine reduces routine tasks and releases nursing staff to perform other duties. The concentration of registration to a single registration point instead of having individual points at each outpatient department improves efficiency.

“The new functions will modernize our hospital and make it a standard-bearer, which will increase its attractiveness. When the system is adopted throughout the Central Hospital, we can free up between four to six secretaries to perform other duties,” says Toni Suihko, chief information officer at South Karelia Social and Health Care District.

“This means we have more employees doing work that cannot be done by machines, which is of key importance with an ageing population,” adds Lehtonen.

Electronic services delivered to citizens’ homes

The introduction of self-registration is part of the district's strategic goal of increasing electronic services to citizens. Through the e-services project, the whole social and health care district is engaged in broad collaboration with the several hospital districts in the area aiming to develop electronic health and social care services.

This extensive and close collaboration project is exceptional in Finland in terms of its scale and approach."The system will then cover a population area of about half a million Finns,” says Suihko.

Other online services in the pipeline: Internet portal for information distribution, electronic forms, and appointment services

“Electronic services must be provided; there are no options. The selected partner should be a player who does not sell semi-finished solutions but develops functionality to meet your needs and is able to integrate it with other systems, just as Tieto has done with the self-registration system solution. Good solutions spread fast,” Suihko points out.