The world-first touchless triage kiosk, developed in Tullamarine in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), enables Nagambie HealthCare employees, visitors and contactors to quickly and effortlessly self-assess their vital health signs, including temperature, respiratory and heart rates at a safe distance before being permitted entry.
During the trial, if a health sign concern is detected the kiosk will immediately link the user via a video call to a triage nurse for further assessment.
This eliminates contact between staff and visitors during the process and will see the user in this incidence avoid entry into the Nagambie HealthCare precinct.
Speaking at the technology’s launch, Nagambie HealthCare chief executive and director of nursing Bronwyn Beadle said Nagambie was a perfect place for the trial.
“As a rural health and aged care facility we have ensured a focus on maintaining restricted visits as opposed to ‘lockdown’ which has created significant resource challenges in screening all those who access our services,” she said.
“To enable this restriction, we have created a single user entry and exit for care recipients, employees and visitors with sizeable people movements through our doors each day,” Ms Beadle said.
“The technology in the kiosk will markedly reduce the resources required to undertake screening and will enable us to trial the assessment and triaging of people entering our facility during its round-the-clock operation.
“It is such an innovative and exciting opportunity for us as a rural health service, with an enormous potential public health benefit and added peace of mind for our employees, in-patients and more importantly our residents.”
Elenium Automation chief executive Aaron Hornlimann said the location of the kiosk within Nagambie HealthCare was an excellent destination to effectively monitor the intersection of public health provision, patient supervision and triaging staff and visitors with the technology to maintain a COVID-19-free environment.
Mr Hornlimann said the solution would lay the basis for hospital and aged care facilities to explore future take-up of the low-cost, efficient and self-managed technology.
“We will recover from COVID-19, but circumstances will not remain the same and increased attention to effective and efficient health screening will be increasingly sought after,” he said.
“The kiosk’s touchless detection screening technology is adaptable, well suited to the times and applicable to different controlled access settings in addition to medical and aviation environments.”