The Mayo Clinic wants to make patient access to digital healthcare a little more accessible at its main campus in Rochester, Minn.

As part of its $900 million to a new enterprise electronics health records system from Epic Systems Corp., Mayo is deploying 51 kiosks throughout its main medical complex that will, among other things, let patients check in online, verify and update their demographic and insurance information, electronically sign forms and complete other tasks.

“For many of our patients, this will streamline their check-in,” says Dr. Steve Ommen, medical director, Center for Connected Care, Mayo Clinic.

Mayo already offers patients an extensive digital and mobile healthcare program they can access via desktop computers and mobile devices.

They include:

• An online portal that patients use to communicate with care givers and keep track of their overall care. Ommen says Mayo’s portal is used by 65% to 70% of patients—roughly three times the industry standard for academic medical centers, Mayo says. The portal can be accessed via a computer or a mobile app. Ommen says that, in the past year, more than 1.5 million secure messages were sent via the portal.
• Emergency telemedicine, which uses video links to provide acute medical assessments to people who need immediate emergency care. A Mayo Clinic medical specialist connects via technology with local care teams to assess, diagnose and treat patients.
• Video doctor visits, which enable patients to have non-emergency visits—for things like following up with a surgeon after a medical procedure—from a distance. This is important, Ommen says, because Mayo Clinic’s patients come from all over the country, or even overseas. Enabling them to check in with their doctors remotely can save patients a lot in travel costs.
• Mayo’s eConsults system, which allows doctors—including those at about 40 outside practices who contract with Mayo Clinic for the service—to interact securely. The eConsults system benefits patients by eliminating the need for a second visit, in most cases. It benefits referring care providers by allowing the care management to stay within their control. Mayo says eConsults take about one-third of the time of face-to-face appointments.
• Remote monitoring of patients via devices that upload important patient data to the Mayo Clinic. Once remote patient monitoring is ordered by a provider, clinical assistants in Rochester help the patient understand the process and set up the equipment. Registered nurses monitor the information transmitted electronically through the equipment from the patient’s home.  The RNs also provide support, educational information, and tools to help the patient. They might answer questions about medication dosages or help to establish new behaviors for disease management including diet, exercise, and anxiety management.
• Mayo Clinic mobile apps developed for patients or consumers. Using May Clinic’s mobile platform, patients can do things like request an appointment, view and manage details of their appointment itineraries, view test results in real time, conduct secure communication with caregivers and view radiology images and exams.

The new kiosks are a new addition to Mayo’s digital healthcare programs that give patients added flexibility and convenience when they are at the main hospital.

“The appointment check-in kiosk is one option that patients can use to check in for their appointments,” Ommen says. “Patients will still be able to check in at the desk when they arrive for their appointment will also have the option to start the check-in process at home by using the eCheck-In feature in patient online services.”

Mayo won’t say who the kiosk vendor is or the price of deploying the kiosks. It’s also unclear if Mayo will expand the kiosks across its other facilities.

But the deployment is one part of Mayo’s final push for a two-year new centralized electronic health records systems at its sprawling national healthcare system that consists of more than 70 hospitals and clinics across Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Georgia.

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