How Hospital Owners Are Approaching Digital Wayfinding Strategies
If there was ever a facility that should require intricate wayfinding designs and layouts, it most certainly would be a hospital. From complex campuses, to sprawling hallways, to seemingly infinite rooms, the need for significant navigational resources within healthcare facilities is necessary for enhancing both the patient experience, as well as improving overall workplace efficiency.
But while much of the results of successful digital wayfinding strategies seem to be interpreted by patients or healthcare staff, seldom do we get to hear what hospital owners think about the perceived benefits of interactive wayfinding software. With nearly 6,100 hospitals currently operating in the United States, adhering to the needs of over 36,000,000 patient admissions every year, understanding how digital wayfinding impacts the managerial aspect of healthcare facilities can provide keen insight into how these innovative navigation systems and technologies can improve the inner workings of hospitals.
To further examine the influence proficient healthcare wayfinding systems have upon hospitals, here are what a few hospitals have to say about how digital wayfinding has revolutionized the healthcare industry.
Healthcare Kiosks
One of the emerging forms of hospital wayfinding technology to grow in popularity in recent years has been the rise of healthcare kiosks. From patient check-in opportunities to mapping routes throughout facilities, healthcare kiosks are specifically designed to customize the patient experience, providing them more sense of independence that in turn can free up hospital staff members to tend to their tasks.
One prime example of the successful implementation of healthcare kiosk stations in hospitals has been in Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, where Saint Luke’s Executive and Chief Digital Officer Deborah Gash has gushed in interviews about how exploring new digital wayfinding technologies has become a top priority for the hospital.
“We’ve made a pretty aggressive push toward using digital technology to improve the patient experience,” Gash said in a recent interview. “And wayfinding was identified early on as an area of focus.”
Self-service kiosk stations are popping up in hospitals all around the world and helping patients better manage and navigate their stay, much to the satisfaction of thousands of healthcare facility owners.
Mobile Wayfinding Solutions
Another prominent form of digital wayfinding software that’s caught the attention of plenty of hospital owners has been the rise of mobile application development into hospital’s wayfinding systems. With 85 percent of Americans now owning a smartphone, it’s practically inevitable that nearly every operating hospital in the country will have its own mobile app to aid patients in navigating their way around the hallways, campuses, and facilities.
A prime case study example of how mobile wayfinding apps can change a hospital for the better is the Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since its opening in 1940, the Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center has evolved into a sprawling 2.8 million-square-foot hospital campus, which needless to say can prove to be quite the intimidating environment for the thousands of patients they treat on a monthly basis.
Pamela Landis is the Vice President of Information and Analytics Services at Atrium Health, and acknowledges the growing need for hospitals around the world to significantly invest in digital wayfinding solutions.
“Everybody in healthcare is still trying to figure out wayfinding,” Landis says. “We wanted to use technology to improve the patient and visitor experience, and do it in a way that is not overly expensive but still incredibly valuable.”
Her solution was developing a mobile wayfinding app, allowing patients to utilize their smartphones as a GPS-like road map to help guide their way throughout the campus. And so many other hospitals have followed suit, with an estimated 350,000 digital health apps currently available on the market, many of which focusing primarily on providing wayfinding solutions for hospital patients.
Custom Hospital Wayfinding Strategies from Oppna Digital
Every hospital has its own needs when it comes to implementing digital wayfinding strategies into their current operations. At Oppna Digital, we help hospitals identify how they can improve their patients’ experience through custom hospital wayfinding software technologies, designed to improve workflow and increase patient satisfaction and safety. If your hospital could use an upgrade to its digital wayfinding systems, contact us today to request a demo of our services, or call us at 651-237-5677 to speak directly with one of our wayfinding specialists.