The Ocean Kiosk offers a fast, efficient way to automate the check-in process. However, there may still be cases where a manual check-in at the front desk is preferred. In these situations, Ocean allows you to apply rules to block check-in for certain patients or scenarios. For example:
"We don't want to allow patients to check in if they are late for their appointment."
"Not all of our providers want to allow kiosk check-in."
"We have different check-in kiosks with different rules/forms for different providers."
"Certain appointment types are not appropriate for self check-in."
"We want to prevent patients with an outstanding balance owing from checking in on the kiosk."
Below, you can learn more about how you can configure your tablet to accommodate any of the situations above. Do you have another creative use for blocking kiosk check-in? Tell us about it!
- The Check-In tab in the Tablet settings window of your kiosk tablet group will allow you to block certain patients from being able to check-in at the kiosk.
- Below you will find some useful clinical examples of which patients you might want to redirect to your reception desk, instead of self-checking in at the kiosk.
- Note for PS Suite Users: This feature requires the Telus API to be enabled and therefore is unavailable for PS Suite users on the Custom Form integration.
Follow the steps below to redirect patients to the reception desk for check-in if they are late for their scheduled appointment.
- Login to the Ocean Portal. Click the "Menu" button in the top left corner and select "Tablets & Kiosks".
- On the tablet group that you wish to change, click on "Edit".
- Navigate to the Check-In tab.
- Check off the "Block late check-in after" checkbox and enter the number of minutes after your appointment time in which your clinic considers patients to be late.
- Save your changes.
This feature is currently only available for PS Suite users on the API integration and Accuro users.
Follow the steps below to redirect patients to the reception desk if their appointment is scheduled with a specific provider who requires a special check-in process for their patients.
- Login to the Ocean Portal. Click the "Menu" button in the top left corner and select "Tablets & Kiosks".
- On the tablet group that you wish to change, click on "Edit".
- Navigate to the Check-In tab.
- In the "Block late check-in if" field, enter:
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ScriptUtil.getKeyword("@providerName") == 'John Smith' - Copy Rule
- Where 'John Smith' is the name of the provider who requires the special check-in process.
- Save your changes.
This feature is currently only available for PS Suite users on the API integration and Accuro users.
Follow the steps below to redirect patients to the reception desk if their appointment is scheduled under a specific appointment type that requires a special check-in process.
- Login to the Ocean Portal. Click the "Menu" button in the top left corner and select "Tablets & Kiosks".
- On the tablet group that you wish to change, click on "Edit".
- Navigate to the Check-In tab.
- In the "Block late check-in if" field, enter:
- For PS Suite and Med Access users:
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pt.getReasonForVisit() != null && pt.getReasonForVisit().startsWith('Reason') - Copy Rule
- For Accuro users:
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pt.getReasonForVisit() != null && pt.getReasonForVisit().indexOf('Reason') != -1 - Copy Rule
- For OSCAR Pro users:
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pt.getReasonForVisit() != null && ScriptUtil.getKeyword('@ptReasonForVisit').startsWith('Reason') - Copy Rule
- In the above rules, 'Reason' is the exact name of the appointment type that requires the special check-in process. (To learn more about how to manage your appointment types, please refer to "Managing Appointment Type / Reason for Visit for Reminders")
- Save your changes.
This feature is currently only available for PS Suite users on the API integration and Accuro users.
Follow the steps below to redirect patients to the reception desk if they have an outstanding balance owing.
- Create a standard comment that can be used to indicate if a patient has an outstanding amount owing. This can be something simple, such as "outstanding balance".
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For PS Suite
Type this standard comment into the "Comments" field of the demographics section of the appropriate patients' charts in PS Suite.
For Med Access
Type this standard comment into the "Notes" field of the demographics section of the appropriate patients' charts in Med Access.
Ensure that the standard comment is identical for each patient. 
-
For PS Suite
Once entered, this standard comment should appear in the patient's demographics portion of their chart in PS Suite.
For Med Access
Once entered, this standard comment should appear if you hover over the patient's name in the appointment screen or directly within their chart. -
- Login to the Ocean Portal. Click the "Menu" button in the top left corner and select "Tablets & Kiosks".
- On the tablet group that you wish to change, click on "Edit".
- Navigate to the Check-In tab.
- In the "Block late check-in if" field, enter:
-
ScriptUtil.getKeyword('@ptComments').indexOf("outstanding balance") != -1 - Copy Rule
- Where outstanding balance is included in the exact wording of the standard comment that you created earlier that indicates that they have an outstanding balance.
- Save your changes.
Follow the steps below to redirect patients to the reception desk based on any reason in Custom Demographics.
- Enable Custom Demographic Fields in Ocean Cloud Connect by signing into Cloud Connect > Edit Settings. Click the checkbox for "Use Custom Fields".
- Create a Custom Demographic Field in Accuro.
- Login to the Ocean Portal. Click the "Menu" button in the top left corner and select "Admin".
- Enter the "EMR Field Mapping" section and select "Add Row".
- Name the "Tagged Field" the exact same as the "Custom Note" field in your Ocean eForm (all one word, without the leading '@') and the "EMR Field".
- Name the "EMR Field" the exact same as your custom demographics field in Accuro.
- Be sure to save your changes before leaving this page.
- Sign into the Ocean Portal and navigate to the Tablets view. Find your kiosk tablet group and click "Edit". Under "Check in", paste this script in the "Block Check-in if" field:
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ScriptUtil.getKeyword('@ptCustom.Payment').replace(/\s/g, "") != "" - Copy Rule
- Any value recorded in the Custom Demographic Field that was created earlier will block check-in.
- Save your Changes.
This feature is currently only available for PS Suite users on the API integration.
Follow the steps below to redirect patients to the reception desk if their Ocean eForm queue contains a particular eForm.
- Login to the Ocean Portal. Click the "Menu" button in the top left corner and select "Tablets & Kiosks".
- On the tablet group that you wish to change, click on "Edit".
- Navigate to the Check-In tab.
- In the "Block check-in if" field, enter:
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ScriptUtil.queueContains("form_ref") - Copy Rule
-
Where form_ref is the form reference value for the eForm that should block the patient's check-in if it is present in their eForm queue.
- Save your changes.
Tip & Example
The "form_ref" for an Ocean eForm can be sourced from the eForm preview URL. For example, the "form_ref" value for the PHQ-9 is "PHQ_9" as seen at the end of the URL below:
https://ocean.cognisantmd.com/questionnaires/preview/QuestionnairePreview.html?ref=PHQ_9
So the script to use in the case that patients who have the PHQ-9 eForm in their form queue should be blocked from checking in on the kiosk would be:
ScriptUtil.queueContains("PHQ_9")