By Vishal Brown, VP, Professional Services, Yorktel
In the past, retail pharmacies used self-serve kiosks as little more than time fillers, enabling patrons to check their blood pressure and learn a few medical facts while they waited for their prescriptions to be filled.
As telehealth technology progresses, however, these kiosks are taking on much more important roles in consumers’ (i.e. patients’) lives. No longer mere novelties, telehealth-enabled kiosks are providing meaningful healthcare services and have the potential to become a major contributor to much-needed healthcare reform.
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Reaching The DIY Wellness Population
Rising healthcare costs combined with other factors such as busy schedules and limited sick days from work cause a sizeable segment of the population to skip routine checkups and seek professional medical assistance only when all other “self-help” options have been exhausted. There is also a shift in the industry to self-managed healthcare where the onus of responsibility is now on the patient to seek out what is best for them. Telehealth kiosks appeal to these do-it-yourself proponents by cutting through the cost and time barriers associated with traditional office appointments. The new kiosks can do far more than just check blood pressure, too; they capture weight, height, and demographic data, such as age for starters. Some kiosks can even test vision.
The real game changer with these kiosks, however, occurs when they connect users to live videoconferences with a physician who, teamed with a medical assistant on-site, can use a stethoscope, otoscope, dermascope, and other diagnostic equipment and provide meaningful diagnoses on the spot. Moreover, even before a patient interacts with a virtual doctor, the kiosks can quiz them about their symptoms, so that the doctor begins the conference with that information, thereby streamlining the video interaction and more quickly arriving at a diagnosis.
Video capable kiosks also provide patients immediate access to doctors with specific specialties during a single visit. Think about the time saver if a patient had to go for multiple appointments at various specialty doctor offices. Perhaps most importantly, telehealth kiosks can link into follow-up programs that engage users via email and other media over the long term, not just during irregular kiosk visits.
Kiosk Ad Revenue Offsets Healthcare Costs
Certainly the financial investment in kiosks and video conferencing costs are going to make this a limited opportunity, right? Not necessarily: Telehealth kiosks can provide such a direct call to action, the potential for advertising messaging that directs patients to valid therapies is very real (and very lucrative).
In fact, kiosk vendors readily admit that a large portion of their sales revenue will come from advertising. Similar to the trend we’ve seen at mobile app stores, these advertising revenue streams can significantly offset the cost to the consumer, making the self-service telehealth kiosk the trifecta of easy-to-use, effective, and affordable.
For years, healthcare reform has been one of the most hotly debated political topics. Telehealth kiosks play a key role in this process by enabling physicians and patients to engage with one another in a brand new way. It’s the solution that Redbox came up with to the outdated Blockbuster model.
And, it isn’t just optimistic techno geeks that see the benefits of telehealth kiosks; leading analysts like Frost & Sullivan do as well. “Video telemedicine is one of the top areas in telehealth that can enable positive transformation impact in healthcare delivery,” said Frost & Sullivan Connected Health Global Research Director, Daniel Ruppar, in a recent press release.
When you consider the fact that we’re facing a growing shortage of primary care physicians, combined with the fact that many younger consumers prefer virtual interactions over in-person meetings, and grocers and pharmacists need to drive more traffic to their facilities, telehealth kiosks offer a win-win for everyone: grocers, pharmacists, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare practitioners, and most of all – for patients.
Vishal Brown is Vice President of Professional Services for Yorktel, a worldwide provider of UCC, cloud and video managed services, including enterprise-grade videoconferencing-as-a-service, unified communications and collaboration. For more information, visitwww.yorktel.com.
