TapBox develops self-service devices in the medical field

TapBox, a Latvian self-service solution developer, has developed a solution for medical institutions to help them with slow service and long waiting lines at the reception. The solution is expected to simultaneously save time for patients and address staff shortages in the medical industry. This all is possible by using the self-service kiosk as a digital extension of the reception.

Patients will be able to manually register for the appointment, digitally fill out and confirm various consent forms, enter insurance data, make the payment and receive a referral from the queue management system to the doctor’s office.

The first self-service kiosks will be installed in the country’s largest hospital – Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital.

The solution has been developed in cooperation with several organizations: TapBox, Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital, hospital information system Ārsta birojs, reliability service integration solution SigningServices by DigitalMind, and queuing system Timesaving.

Like in a supermarket at the self-service checkout
Jāzeps Linde, the Head of Sales at TapBox explains how the healthcare kiosk is used. The patient approaches the kiosk, where informational material is showcased about the kiosk and its usage. The patient starts by scanning his ID card or passport so that the system can verify the person and receive the necessary information about the appointments. Then a consent form of the medical institution is displayed and the patient can electronically sign it with a secure timestamp through the DigitalMind solution. After that, all the patients’ appointments are displayed and he can select the correct one. If the patient has insurance it can be entered before making the payment.

“After making the payment the patient can print out or send to email their e-receipt. The patient completes the activity at the kiosk by printing the queue number and instructions on how to get to the doctor’s office,” tells J. Linde.

In the near future, it is planned to enable registration for an appointment and post-payment functionality at the kiosk. 

“The solution is planned to be further developed and improved so that it can fully serve as a digital extension of medical institutions’ reception,” says J. Linde.

One receptionist and three kiosks
When asked how much time could a patient save by using a self-service solution, J. Linde answers that it is difficult to calculate. If everything goes smoothly, it can take at least a minute at the front desk, but a standard operation at the kiosk could take only half a minute. If we calculate it this way, then the time saved is significant. 

“This is our first project in the healthcare industry, so at the moment we can only compare theoretically the benefits that the self-service kiosk can bring,” explains J. Linde.

The aim is to reduce the number of receptionists to a minimum at the reception. For example, if there are currently three receptionists in the institution, then in the future there could be only one person with one or more self-service kiosks.

“In medicine, this will be a bigger challenge, but Tapbox aims to be able to completely replace the receptionist with digital solutions, the way it has been already done in other industries,” says J.Linde

Targets to be among the leaders
“TapBox” started to develop its self-service system in 2015. The idea of self-service solutions came from the company’s founders Toms Piliksers un Jēkabs Endziņš. 

“Our future ambitions are very high. The self-service industry is growing fast and we are very competitive not only in Latvia and Europe, but we can offer our services around the world. Our goal is to be among the leaders of self-service solution developers,” previously stated co-founder of TapBox Toms Piliksers.

In recent years, TapBox has worked hard on the solution for the medical industry and searching for partners in export markets. This year the company actively reached out to hospitals in Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe.

“The process is slow. It may be related to both the Covid-19 pandemic and the war,” says J. Linde.

Besides the healthcare industry, companies from different industries are also actively exploring the idea of integrating self-service solutions, for example, shopping centres are interested in gift card kiosks, and fintech companies are interested in integrating self-service kiosks in their branches. 

“Even government-owned companies have shown interest in process digitization and automation, as well as the transportation industry, has the opportunity to introduce self-service ticketing kiosks – there are many opportunities,” says J. Linde.

TapBox has evolved and graduated from the Latvian Investment and Development Agency’s Jelgava Business Incubator. 

“The incubator has helped us a lot. There are well-established companies that are ready to provide support. Of course, the financial support available to the incubator members is also important,” says Pilikser.

So far, the company has grown through the finances of its founders and various support instruments. The company has used a loan from Altum three times. T. Piliksers admits that the company will attract additional funding soon to develop faster.

Source: labsoflatvia.com