GP practice De Blauwe Tulp

The shortage of medical assistants and the workload in general practice are becoming increasingly problematic for GPs. This is also true for GP Practice De Blauwe Tulp. So, the practice sought innovative solutions. The self-service kiosk from Wachtkamerschermen® offers a solution: a collaboration between eValue8 and PharmaPartners. The result is a calm waiting area, a less burdened reception desk, and an assistant with more time for care tasks.

GP Practice De Blauwe Tulp has 6,500 patients and is located in the Schilderswijk in The Hague. “This area is designated as a disadvantaged neighbourhood,” explains Adri Verbaan, practice manager at De Blauwe Tulp. “Approximately 92% of our patients have a migration background. The first-generation migrants among our patients often do not speak Dutch, and our patients have low health literacy.”

The practice itself is part of the De Rubenshoek health centre. In addition to medical care, caregivers in this centre also offer a lot of psychosocial support. “De Rubenshoek is considered a best practice in this regard,” says Verbaan. “Patients can also come here for social work and financial support. This makes care accessible and trusted for our patients.”

Long queues are a thing of the past

In the large health centre, signage to the various caregivers is crucial. “Patients often cannot find their way and end up at our practice reception desk. This led to long queues, while we are dealing with a staff shortage. The turnover of assistants is also very high in our practice,” explains Verbaan.

The practice wanted to change this. “Our approach during COVID showed us the way,” recalls Verbaan. “Our population is more digital than we thought. Moreover, many patients have been to an airport or hospital. They have also encountered self-service kiosks there. So, we wanted to implement such a kiosk.”

Easy start with the self-service kiosk

Since June 2023, it has become a reality. De Blauwe Tulp was one of the first practices to use the self-service kiosk from Wachtkamerschermen® with the integration to Medicom. “We have been using the kiosk for almost three-quarters of a year now, and we are very satisfied,” says Verbaan. “The start was very smooth and actually without resistance. We did deploy a hospitality intern as a hostess for the first few weeks. But people help each other if they can’t figure it out, or they still report to our reception desk. Nine out of ten patients now use the self-service kiosk.”

Reception desk less burdened

Verbaan is clear about the benefits: “Our reception function is much less burdened. We prevent questions that really don’t belong to us. This allows us to close the reception desk in the afternoon, which means we need fewer assistants.” And the medical assistants currently working in the practice have more varied and challenging jobs. Verbaan: “Our assistants focus on care-related tasks in the afternoon, such as their own consultation hours. This relieves our GP. And if we are understaffed, the reception desk just stays closed. This was unthinkable before.”

“People are also used to self-service kiosks. Initially, a few people found the kiosk impersonal, but we don’t hear this anymore.” Verbaan also notices a valuable side effect because the reception desk is closed more often: “The aggression we experience from patients decreases. We have fewer conflict situations at the reception desk, and our assistants work more safely.”

The opportunities provided by a self-service kiosk

Verbaan hopes that the self-service kiosk and the integration with Medicom will be further developed: “It would be great if patients could, for example, update their address, phone number, or email via the kiosk. That would save a lot of work. Currently, we find it difficult to keep track of all the changes.”

Meanwhile, the practice has already taken the next step with their own self-service kiosk. Verbaan: “We have now included questions that we often received at the reception desk. For example, patients can now select blood tests or physiotherapy, after which they are directed to the correct waiting room.” Verbaan wants to take this a step further: “In the future, we want patients coming for a CRP test or urine test to also register via the self-service kiosk.”

With all the opportunities the self-service kiosk offers, Verbaan’s advice to other practices is no surprise: “A self-service kiosk really helps you organise care differently. Both in large and small practices. So, definitely go for it.”

Tekst: Juul van der Aa, VeertienElf Media