St. Mary’s introduces new self-check-in kiosk in emergency department

St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener introduced new technology in its emergency department on Tuesday.

It's a self-check-in kiosk, replacing the hospital's old system of registration, which required those coming to be seen in the emergency department to fill out a paper form and wait for their number to be called.

The new touchscreen kiosk will ask you to enter your name and primary reason for your visit. Once completed, you will be asked to take a seat and wait for a triage nurse to call your name.

St. Mary's explains it made the change to provide a quicker and more efficient check-in process, and reduce paper waste. Triage nurses will also better understand the reason for everyone’s visit immediately and be able to prioritize the needs of each patient, according to a news release from the hospital.

A spokesperson for the hospital tells CityNews, they will have staff available to assist patients with the new technology. They also plan to train emergency department volunteers on how to use the kiosks so they can help patients as well.