Ditching the clipboard: Wellstar patients can check in digitally
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Wellstar will implement the voluntary digital check-in platform at 150 of its offices. Photo: Wellstar Health System
A Georgia health care system is installing Clear's digital platform to modernize check-ins at offices across the state.
Why it matters: The typical check-in process — filling out forms, verifying personal info — before you see your doctor can be tedious.
Driving the news: Wellstar Health System is implementing the Clear1 system patients can use to check in when they arrive at their doctor's office.
- Wellstar introduced the new process last year at its five health parks and expanded it to the system's North Fulton Hospital in Roswell.
- Hank Capps, Wellstar Health System's executive vice president and chief information and digital officer, told Axios the company plans to expand the technology to 150 other company medical offices.
How it works: Days before their appointment, a patient will get a text message directing them to register an account.
- First-time users will be asked to take a selfie and upload a government-issued ID through their phone or other mobile device.
- When they arrive, participating patients visit the kiosk or tablet. They will enter their phone number and snap another selfie to confirm their identity.
Yes, but: Using the system is voluntary.
What they're saying: "We found that people like the experience better," Capps said. "It also gave the people who are greeting you at the front desk more of an opportunity to have that human experience."
- Behind the scenes, Capps said the check-in program helped reduce duplicate records and streamline the process of verifying patients' identities.
Zoom in: Since launching the program, Wellstar said in a press release that its digital check-in adoption rate increased from 2% to 10%.
- 73% of patients who've used the system would use it again, Wellstar said.
The big picture: David Bardan, general manager and head of health care at Clear, said the company does not sell or retain data from Wellstar patients.
- Clear and Wellstar are exploring how to create a more secure authenticating experience for customers logging into patient portals that would prevent their login credentials from being stolen.
The bottom line: Bardan said the new technology removes "those long and repetitive processes of having to fill out multiple clipboard forms."
- "We can help append all those things directly to your identity and create a real, frictionless experience throughout the ecosystem," he said.
What's next: Capps said it will take a year to 18 months for full implementation across the Wellstar system.