The Most Important Features Pharmacies Should Look for in a Pharmacy Kiosk

Pharmacy kiosks are quickly gaining popularity across major pharmacies as an effective way to automate a range of transactions, allowing shoppers and patients to serve themselves quickly and conveniently.

From check-in to self-checkout, these kiosks restore time for pharmacists and boost patient satisfaction. While they can’t replace dedicated employees, they improve efficiency, expand services, and expand the convenience of online to in-location.

Two Main Types of Pharmacy Kiosks

Pharmacy kiosks fall into two general categories: point systems and self-service platforms. Kiosks that handle specialized services like blood pressure testing and body mass index measurements are specialized and provide a singular purpose. 

On the other hand, these kiosks can handle multiple tasks like check-in, checkout, product information, etc., and are built to enable multiple self-service experiences and, from that perspective, operate as a platform.

Exploring the Benefits for Both Patients and Pharmacists 

Benefits for Patients: 

Convenience: Patients can access prescriptions and over-the-counter medications 24/7, eliminating the need to wait for pharmacy opening hours.

Faster service: Patients can quickly pick up prescriptions and medications from the kiosk, reducing wait times compared to traditional in-person visits. 

Reduced wait times: Traditional pharmacy settings can sometimes have long wait times due to the number of customers and varying prescription complexities. Automated pharmacy operations help reduce wait times by allowing patients to complete their transactions efficiently.

Benefits for Pharmacists: 

Accelerate revenue cycle: Collect accurate and complete insurance and ID information, leading to few claims rejections, while enabling self-service copayments at the point of checkout. 

Improve data quality: Collect accurate demographic information to enable eligibility verification. Eliminate transcription errors by replacing paper-based or manual intake procedures with lightning-fast data capture. 

Reduced staff burden: Eliminate rote manual data entry from paper forms and dramatically reduce the clerical burden on staff while enabling faster patient processing without additional staffing.

Key Features of Automated Pharmacy Operations 

With the rising adoption of self-service kiosks in retail pharmacies to enhance efficiency and convenience, those equipped with out-of-the-box capabilities offer numerous advantages compared to traditional systems. Take check-in, for example; pharmacy kiosks with integrated image-based scanning allow patients to check themselves in by scanning their mobile phones, driver’s licenses, and insurance cards in seconds —replacing the manual intake process.

Here is a summary of the six key features to look for in a pharmacy kiosk:

1. Integrated Image-based scanning: with integrated scanning technology, there’s no need for external scan guns or flatbed scanners… Aila’s Interactive Kiosk offers integrated, image-based scanning that scans over 45 different barcode symbologies, including 1D/2D barcodes, IDs, OCR, and more, providing reliable data capture in fractions of a second.
2. Tablet-based technology: There’s a reason 82% of work done on mobile devices is done on iOS/iPadOS. It’s easy to use, easy to maintain, and is the OS customers and employees know and love. iPad-based kiosks leverage the superior power, security, and flexibility of iOS/iPadOS and deliver more bang for the buck over legacy systems.
3. Peripheral Integration: Integrating a wide range of best-in-class accessories such as printers, payment terminals, and more with your pharmacy kiosk makes it easy to deploy and maintain a degree of consistent self-service experiences with other in-location technology.
4. Power Management: The integrated USB-C Power Hub that’s also featured in Aila’s Interactive Kiosk manages power for the kiosk, the iPad, and accessories such as payment terminals, printers are more. Add or remove the peripherals to create unique self-service experiences all across your physical locations- on one platform.
5. Mounting Options: Pharmacy kiosk mounting options should be built to handle a high-transaction environment while providing a modern and inviting experience… Mounting options should include floor, table, wall, and more.
6. Customizations: The ability to further customize your self-service kiosk is also crucial to creating engaging and convenient experiences.Custom colors and graphics help to extend your brand experience.

As retail pharmacies continue to evolve rapidly, automation is key to driving efficiencies and enhancing patient service. From point solutions to platforms, the integration of automated systems within pharmacy operations enables the efficient completion of a diverse range of specialized tasks and transactions.

Pharmacies with multiple locations can automate various transactions, saving pharmacists time and enhancing the customer experience using iPad-based kiosks. Aila’s Interactive Kiosk encompasses five essential features tailored for large-scale deployments.  Contact us to see if the Interactive Kiosk is right for your pharmacies