October 7th 2021 – Healthcare systems across the world have been put under immense pressure during the past 18 months, as they fight against multiple waves of COVID-19. Some areas have been quick to adapt – administering vaccines and implementing new protocols for COVID patient admissions – but others have put chronic problems in the industry into the spotlight. This offers an opportunity for the innovative use of kiosks to reduce pressure on healthcare services.
With over 25 years’ experience advising clients on all aspects of the professional displays sector, Futuresource Consulting’s latest research on The Future of Large Format Kiosks highlights the potential benefits the technology can bring to quality of care, staffing management, and spiralling costs – all of which have been compounded by a year and a half of backlogs in routine, non-COVID related treatment.
Kiosks in Healthcare remains an Under-Penetrated Market
The universalist push to vaccinate everyone has emphasised the need for healthcare systems with a global reach, better prepared for future pandemics. Kiosk technology is set to benefit from this, boasting the efficiency and connectivity that many existing healthcare systems are in desperate need of.
Futuresource forecasts a 13% volume CAGR growth rate for the from 2021 to 2025. However, healthcare has so far been a niche, under-penetrated market in terms of the added value kiosks can provide. Many hospitals have kiosks for use of wayfinding, checking-in and dispensing prescriptions – but they have not seen the transformation that retail and transport have gone through to claw back margins and bring in footfall, as countries open up post-lockdown.
Kiosks are well established in retail and have strong growth prospects. 44% of the potential addressable market in this vertical is for quick-service restaurants, which have been instrumental in introducing the technology to end-users. Transportation is the next largest, as many existing processes have been automated to cut costs.
The Advantages of Large Format Kiosks in Healthcare
In healthcare, kiosks have the advantage of accommodating social distancing, as the threat of new variants make remote consultations preferential. However, the potential benefits go much further than that. Trained healthcare professions are expensive and in short supply, an issue that could be mitigated with the connectivity kiosks offer. Patients can be linked up to a doctor anywhere in the world, which has the advantage of diffusing areas of intense pressure on services to those with available capacity. This will also allow a more competitive healthcare landscape which incentivises better quality and lower prices.
Against the backdrop of a huge backlog in treatment in many countries, and with resources stretched, large format kiosks with embedded sensors will be instrumental in future efforts in preventative care. This is a more effective process than utilising mobile devices, as kiosks can integrate many more diagnostic sensors. Interactive health screenings are widespread in measuring BMI, glucose levels, blood pressure and heart rate – but ultrasound probe kits, integrated wearables for real-time updates, and AI-driven facial-recognition to detect emotions are starting to be seen in the industry. Additional innovations in kiosk health screening will allow more cases to be treated early before adding to pressure on services.
Current Barriers for Healthcare Kiosks Predicted to Diminish
The added value that kiosks bring in terms of cutting costs, increasing efficiency, and integrating smart data to optimise resources has yet to be fully realised – even by wealthier, first-mover countries that adopt new technology more readily. This is due to funding deficits and a reliance on existing infrastructure, but also the required recognition from healthcare bodies is slow and end-users are generally less accepting of kiosks to replace human interaction. However, with the public becoming increasingly confronted by similar technological shifts over the course of the pandemic, which has forced the industry to be more innovative, Futuresource expects these barriers to diminish quickly.