Abstract
Purpose :
The use of check-in kiosks has improved efficiency and decreased costs in many industries, including healthcare. However, the expectation for patients to use check-in kiosks for ophthalmic appointments presents a unique challenge, as many patients will have visual limitations and a lack of electronic familiarity that limit their ability to effectively use such technology. This retrospective cross-sectional study is the first to characterize the patients who use check-in kiosks for ophthalmic appointments, and will provide better understanding of how they can be utilized in an ophthalmic care setting.
Methods :
The first visit for all adult patients seen at a single academic center from October 1, 2019-October 31, 2019 were collected. Multiple visits, no-shows and canceled appointments were excluded, which yielded a total of 5718 patients. Demographics (age, race, ethnicity), insurance type, kiosk usage, and visual acuity (VA) were gathered. Additional information for kiosk users, such as completion time and abandonment rate, will be collected. The primary outcome was the percentage of patients who used a check-in kiosk. Secondary outcomes were comparisons of demographics, visual acuity, and insurance type between users and non-users.
Results :
During a one-month interval, 1545(27%) of patients used a sign-in kiosk. There was a significant difference in age between those users and non-users [95% CI, 61 (60-62) vs. 64.5 (64-65), p<0.0001]. Of kiosk users, 1135(73%) were white and 321(21%) were black, compared to 2866(69%) white and 1007(24%) black in nonusers (p=0.002). The kiosk users had a significantly greater mean BCVA [95%CI, 79.7 (79-80.3) vs. 77 (76.8-77.7), p<0.0001], and had a higher percentage of patients with VA that was 20/40 and better [1333(86%) vs. 3325(80%)]. There was no difference in the type of visit (new vs established).
Conclusions :
There is little reported on the use of kiosks in real-life healthcare settings, and to our knowledge this study is the first to study check-in kiosk use in an ophthalmic outpatient setting. There are significant demographic differences between kiosk users and non-users, including age, gender and ethnicity. There are also differences in VA between the two groups, suggesting that degree of vision is an additional factor that may be influencing kiosk usage in this population.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.