Kaiser Permanente has begun to introduce the first wave of its touch-screen kiosks at medical office buildings and hospitals throughout Southern California, according to officials with the Oakland-based health care organization.

The first of the so-called "KP self-service kiosks" has operated at Kaiser's Rancho Cucamonga Medical Offices, 10850 Arrow Route, for about a year, said Larry Sharfstein, regional practice leader with Kaiser Permanente's Southern California office.

By January, 94 of the kiosks will be installed at Kaiser clinics in the Inland Empire and in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles and Kern counties.

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Photos By Larry Rose

Using the touch screen, a patient can enter in his or her information for quicker service.

All of the touch-screen kiosks will be equipped for privacy and will be programmed for English, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese.

Members will not be able to make appointments, but that function could be added later, said Sharfstein, who is overseeing the entire kiosk program.

"This fits in well with our electronic medical records program, which is one of the biggest anywhere. It's really an extension of that," said Dr. David Quam, a family medicine physician and area medical director for Kaiser Permanente in San Bernardino County.

"The airlines have used this kind of technology to streamline their boarding process and they've been pretty successful with it," he said." That's pretty much what we're trying to do here."

The Rancho Cucamonga kiosk, located by the main entrance next to the reception desk, began operating after some software issues were worked out.

Kaiser officials learned quickly that the kiosk was most often used by younger people.

"Thirty-five and younger, a lot of people in that group seemed to be more comfortable getting their information from a kiosk instead of a receptionist," Quam said. "I think that's a sign of the times."

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Carolyn Ortiz of Alta Loma tries out the new kiosk.

About 16 kiosks will be installed at Kaiser Permanente facilities in the Inland region within the next six months, Sharfstein said.

That rollout, which has been in the works for several years, will be one of the largest kiosk programs ever undertaken by a U.S. health care organization, according to Kaiser officials.

Only Kaiser Permanente members will be able to use the kiosks. After submitting their name or medical records card, users will be able to make non-dues payments with a debit or credit card, update their contact information or other personal data, or use the "way-finding'" function, which prints out walking directions from the kiosk to the doctor's office or appointment room.

The kiosks are part of Kaiser Permanente's HealthConnect system, a comprehensive computerized health care system that stores the medical records of all members.

The kiosk program started about three years ago, when the health care provider conducted a comprehensive study that broke down how the health care industry was changing and how the company - which has more than 49,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers and 6,000 physicians in Southern California - could do a better job of getting information to its 3.3 million Southern California members.

The kiosks arose from focus groups of members who discussed how they wanted to get information at Kaiser facilities.

"We found out that information kiosks were something a lot of people would be interested in," Sharfstein said.

No jobs will be lost because of the kiosks, which cost $15,000 to $20,000 to build and install, including software, Quam said.

“It could be that the receptionists might start to deal more with the back end of the operation in some cases, but we will always have receptionists,” Quam said. “People will always want to see a friendly face.”