The Little Clinic CIO recognized for implementing Boston WorkStation kiosks at clinics

BOSTON The Little Clinic chief information officer Mat Waites was the recipient of Boston Software Systems' Fourth Annual User Excellence Award.

Waites was recognized for the use of Boston WorkStation to automate the registration process and enable patient registration kiosks to interface with the eClinicalWorks EMR. As a result, the clinic operator has been able to save the staff hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars, allowing for more focus on patient care.

"Prior to using the kiosk, the patient was handed the old clipboard and asked to fill out a detailed paper form, which the clinician then had to transfer to the EMR system," stated Waites. "The clinician also had to document the patient queue by hand. As such, the clinician was playing the role of registrar, billing clerk, as well as diagnostician. Automating the registration and data transfer process saves us about one hour per day per clinic. Given that the clinics are open up to 72 hours a week, this easily translates to a savings of hundreds of hours and about $12,000 per month. We plan to expand Boston WorkStation into more clinics, which will afford us further savings."

According to Boston Software Systems, Boston WorkStation currently services about 20 of the clinics. Waites plans to expand the use of automation to more facilities this year.

There are currently 80 Little Clinics inside select Kroger stores nationwide. The relationship between Kroger and the clinic operator began in 2003 when Kroger opened its first Little Clinic in a Kroger store in Louisville, Ky. In February, Kroger acquired The Little Clinic for, according to a local news report, a price tag of $86 million.