October 5, 2024
I approached the reception desk and leaned over to check in with the receptionist. To my surprise, no one was on the other side of the plastic partition. But a note was glued onto the divider to go to the corner of the room to check in. Following this instruction, I walked over to the dark corner of the room, where I found a three-foot high post with a touch screen on the top, the size of an iPad. On the screen, I had a choice of touching a box that said “talk to a human” or another that said “check in.” I thought of why not talk to a human being to check in as I used to, but my adventurous nature took over, and I punched the “check-in” button.
And lo and behold, another screen came up with an instruction to punch your name on the list of names on the right side of the screen. My name was there. I thought that this was fun and followed it. The next screen asked me to punch the day of my birth on the numerical sequence at the bottom of the screen. Following that, the screen came up with a large sign; “you are checked in.” I did not have further instructions, so I sat in the waiting room.
As I looked around, I noticed a large TV screen on the wall with names, including mine, each followed by a time period. Mine said five to ten minutes, presumably my waiting time. Ten minutes later, a voice announced my name, instructing me to go to room twelve, following the main hallway and turning left onto the second hallway.
So, I got up, strode as instructed, and found room twelve with a lighted panel next to the door with my name on it. Eureka! I found the office.
I went in and sat down, waiting for the next thing to happen. Before long, a staff member came in, attached a blood pressure cuff around my arm, and explained that the doctor would be here soon. I asked her half-jokingly whether it would be a robot or a human being.
Since I have been coming to this medical clinic, there has always been a reception clerk when you arrive, and staff has always come to the waiting room to take the clients to the examining room. The process I experienced this time was new and involved a learning curve that I found easy.
The human resources budget is likely the most significant component in some organizations, such as medical clinics. So, any idea that saves on personnel is desirable. I asked the nurse if anybody had lost employment due to this new procedure. She said no, but the clinic added new doctors serving additional clients requiring the services of all staff.
Leaving the office after talking with a real, human doctor and not a robot, I thought this new procedure to learn was easy and fun to follow, but is it easy for all other clinic clients? Put another way, was this a business initiative or a patient-centered idea? This new process may save the clinic money. Still, some of its clientele – seniors unfamiliar with current digital communication and immigrants with language difficulties – may have difficulties following the instructions.
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