Information at the Touch of a Finger
Hospital District Launches Patient Education Kiosk Network

The Harris County Hospital District has unveiled a network of 60 interactive touch-screen kiosk systems at 16 of its metropolitan Houston-area health care facilities.

With the simple touch of a finger, Harris County Hospital District patients and visitors can now access information about a variety of health care topics and mental health issues, view facility way-finder maps, and take part in ongoing health surveys. The kiosks offer users a choice of three languages - English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

"The kiosks were an instant success and have already experienced a high level of usage, exceeding our expectations," said Dr. Jean Dols, interim chief information officer and vice president of strategic planning for the Harris County Hospital District. "The kiosks are great tools for educating our patients about their health and well-being and the health care services we provide."

By participating in the health surveys, patients have an opportunity to prescreen themselves for certain "at-risk" symptoms such as cancer and diabetes. In addition, another self-service feature links users to community resource information on various affiliates including Poison Control, Suicide Prevention, Drug Intervention and Rehabilitation Services.

The nearly $700,000 project was accomplished with a grant funded by the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund.

TouchVision Interactive Systems Inc., the manufacturer of the new kiosk network, will remotely manage the kiosks and provide on-line reporting of kiosk operating status and usage statistics.

"We selected TouchVision's interactive kiosk solution and their remote monitoring services because of the company's experience in providing solutions within the health care industry," explained Dr. Dols.

Plans are being made to integrate the kiosks' content into the hospital district's Web site, accessible at http://www.tmc.edu/hchd, which will enable patients and visitors to get additional information at home, school or at a public library without having to revisit the health care facility.

"It's great to be involved in the development of this type of patient-focused technology," said Dr. Dols. "Bit by bit, we are changing the way people think about public health care."

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/09_01_01/page_01.html