4 Innovative Uses of Digital Signage
and Wayfinding for Healthcare
There is a space for digital signage and wayfinding technology in nearly every industry, from airports, to convention centers, and beyond. One of the spaces that will benefits most is digital signage for healthcare. With more than 83 percent of adults and 94 percent of children having visited a doctor or health care physician within one year, communication is key at all different types of healthcare facilities.
Whether your healthcare facility is categorized as an outpatient clinic, hospital, long-term care facility, hospice, or clinical lab, the use of digital signage can elevate both the visitor and staff experience. Learn more about digital signage for healthcare from the experts at 22Miles, a leader in interactive experiences and visualized communications.
1) 3D Wayfinding to Elevate the Visitor Experience
Are you looking to elevate the visitors’ experience at your healthcare facility? For larger facilities with multiple offices, buildings, and parking lots, 3D wayfinding does just that.
As one of the most beneficial features, 3D wayfinding for healthcare helps orient users quickly with a “go this way” arrow on any sign. Visitors can also carry the experience from sign to mobile app or browser with a simple QR code scan. This allows visitors to take advantage of advanced features like Augmented Reality, “blue dot” directions, and location-based information pop-ups.
Automated data listings, accessible via touchscreen and mobile app, allow for more engagement and less confusion among visitors. One of the most unique and helpful features of wayfinding for healthcare, the find my car feature, also allows visitors to mark their car as a starting point and easily find their way back to it after an appointment. While many healthcare facilities have multiple parking garages, lots, and buildings, the find my car feature creates a more enjoyable and less confusing experience for all visitors.
2) Waiting Room Signage to Inform Visitors
Spending time in the waiting room is a common experience for nearly every visitor to a healthcare facility. In the United States, one study found that the average patient wait time was more than 18 minutes. While patients wait for their appointment to begin, digital signage technology used in the waiting room welcomes patients with care, as well as offers educational content and calming infotainment via screens and kiosks.
Digital signage in waiting rooms can be used to inform patients on the healthcare facility’s policies, update them on the latest CDC guidelines and world health information, and educate them on common best practices for maintaining good health. Signage can also be used to introduce visitors to physicians by featuring healthcare professional bios, announce healthcare seminars and events, and update a patient’s place in line.
With this latest technology in digital signage from 22Miles, rich content APIs make it easy to update patients and visitors in real-time. This means that families and friends of a patient can also be efficiently updated on their loved ones’ status.
Additionally, donors often play a vital role in many healthcare facilities. With digital signage technology, team leaders can recognize these donors, as well as share patient stories, working to build trust among visitors and honor the legacy of the healthcare facility.
3) Building Directories for Enhanced Organization
For many visitors of a healthcare facility, it can be difficult to navigate such a large and complex space. In addition to confusing and crowded parking lots and garages, many facilities often have multiple buildings, floors, and pathways. Building directories that cater to the user experience and are easily updated are a top use of digital signage for healthcare.
Traditional static directories featuring individual letters on a black velvet board are a thing of the past. With digital building directories, visitors are able to efficiently search through a list of providers and locate their physician quickly after entering the lobby. These digital directories also have the option to be non-touch or touch, catering to facilities of all sizes.
Healthcare facility administrators can also easily and quickly update digital boards with suite numbers and physician names. In an ever changing industry like healthcare, this capability is crucial.
4) Digital Boards for Staff Communication
Digital signage technology can be used for more than just enhancing the visitor experience. It can also be used to elevate the experience for nurses, doctors, and other healthcare staff. Digital signage can also be used in staff lounges for the purpose of announcements, training, birthdays and anniversaries, and team member highlights, as well as in the office as huddle boards.
Digital huddle boards are used to update healthcare professionals at the beginning of a new shift, as well as provide real time updates throughout a patient’s stay. Upon arriving at the office, nurses and doctors can be immediately informed on a patient’s progress via the digital huddle board, which can be efficiently updated by staff. This eliminates the need for old fashioned white boards where updates can be time consuming, disorganized, and mistakenly erased.
Along with many other patient management systems, 22Miles is also able to integrate with Epic, the preferred electronic medical records system used by more than 250 healthcare organizations across the world. Epic allows for one chart to follow a patient throughout their medical journey, allowing for an opportunity to streamline and standardize care. It also allows for more accessible communication between the healthcare professional and the patient.
