It only takes five minutes: Digital booth checks patients in the emergency room

2026-07-05

Germany has launched a first-of-its-kind digital health booth that allows emergency room patients to complete an automated health check before being assessed by medical staff, aiming to reduce waiting times and ease pressure on hospitals.

The pilot project is being tested at the Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein (University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, UKSH) in Kiel. Selected patients entering the emergency department are directed to the self-service "eHealth Station," where they can independently measure vital signs including blood pressure, pulse, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, body temperature, and weight. The entire process takes around five minutes and is guided through an on-screen interface.

Once the measurements are completed, the results are automatically transferred to the hospital's digital information system before the patient meets medical staff. This eliminates the need for nurses to manually record routine vital signs, allowing healthcare professionals to focus more on patient assessment and treatment rather than administrative tasks.

Hospital officials stressed that the technology does not replace doctors or nurses. Medical professionals will continue to make all decisions regarding triage, diagnosis, and treatment. Instead, the automated system is designed to provide clinicians with essential health information earlier in the admission process, helping them make faster and better-informed decisions.

The UKSH emergency department treats approximately 140 patients each day, and hospital leaders estimate the digital booth could save several minutes per patient. If the pilot proves successful in Kiel, the hospital plans to introduce the technology at its Lübeck campus as well. The project is considered the first integration of its kind into a German emergency department and could become a model for hospitals across the country seeking to modernize emergency care.