When introducing a new patient flow management system like Axel Encounter, attention often turns to the most visible change: self check-in. And for good reason. It saves time and resources, eases the daily routine, and improves the patient experience. However, the full savings potential is much greater than just smoother check-in. When we analyzed one customer's current process step-by-step before implementing Encounter, one insight stood out: the greatest savings come from how and where professionals' time is used, and how data is utilized in daily operations.

Patient fees can be a complex matter, no matter whether you're dealing with a private or public healthcare provider. These fees typically include both statutory and provider-specific charges, often capped at certain maximum limits. Payments may be collected entirely from the patients or partially covered by Kela (the Social Insurance Institution of Finland), insurance companies, or other entities.

Mentally, a patient's path begins already at home, when they receive an appointment reminder or an invitation letter from their healthcare provider. Physically, it starts when the patient arrives at the health center or at the hospital. The first thing that the patient usually encounters is a self check-in kiosk. Developing, delivering, and especially programming of such devices is routine work for us at Axel Health, so I decided to write a short blog post on the key ingredients of designing and implementing a great user experience for a self-service kiosk. 

The idea of digitalization, automation, and self-service solutions is to reduce employees' workload and routine tasks and to allow them to focus on more meaningful work. Especially in the healthcare sector, there is a clear need for automation - the main task of healthcare professionals is to care for patients and to spend as little time as possible on non-essential bureaucracy and paperwork.