Why Hospitals Need Digital Signage
Digital signage has promising potential in the healthcare industry, as hospitals of all sizes strive for better patient experiences. Traditionally, healthcare facilities used printed posters to inform patients and staff. The major problem with static signage is that you need to print posters afresh to display new content. Since hospitals can be quite hectic, printed banners easily get lost in the noise.
Fortunately, digital signage solutions address the shortcomings of static signage. For instance, you can update digital signage content in real-time to show relevant and timely information to patients. Explore more of what hospital digital signage can do for you below:
1. Wayfinding
Patients and visiting families are already distressed when they enter your premises. Navigating long hallways and multiple units only adds to this anxiety. What’s more, hospital staff waste a lot of time by directing streams of people to the right destinations.
Digital wayfinding is the best way to guide guests through your healthcare facility. Position wayfinding kiosks at the lobby to let patients interact with wayfinding maps and receive turn-by-turn directions to their destination. Additionally, display wayfinding information on hallway digital signs and let visitors know they are on the right track.
Digital wayfinding signs automatically generate directions once a visitor selects a destination, such as cafeterias, parking structures, doctor offices, or gift shops. Then, a visitor downloads the directions to their mobile device. Moreover, a digital signage platform integrates with department directories to ensure patients don’t miss an appointment. As a result, your hallways will be less crowded as everyone knows where to go.
2. Revolutionize Whiteboards
Traditionally, physicians and nurses had to physically update whiteboards with a patient’s estimated discharge time, dietary restrictions, and medications. In reality, the information on these whiteboards was often illegible and out of date.
If the whiteboards are not updated as they should be, the result is a communication breakdown between a patient’s care team. Digital whiteboards are a welcome alternative to dry erase boards, thanks to automatic updates that show relevant information at all times.
Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently undertook a study on the potential of digital whiteboards to improve patient satisfaction. The study featured 50 patients with digital whiteboards in their room and 50 patients without. A research team updated the whiteboards manually with timely information.
The concluding results were incredibly positive. First, 96% of the participants preferred a patient room with a digital whiteboard. Second, 92% of the respondents said that the tablets were not distracting. Additionally, 70% of the participants said that the digital solution was quite a bit or very helpful in keeping them updated with everything that took place during their stay.
In addition to the delivery of timely information, digital whiteboards also relieve clinic staff from updating whiteboards by hand. Digital signage software can integrate with hospital system data and Electronic Health Records (EHRs), thus eliminating the need for manual updates. By delivering personalized notifications via digital whiteboards in the privacy of a patient’s room, you enhance patient satisfaction.
3. Waiting Room Signage
Digital screens providing entertainment in a waiting room alleviate stress and reduce perceived wait times. There are many uses for waiting room signage in a patient care center. For example, digital displays can give queue numbers to manage traffic flow.
Further, video walls can display your hospital’s services, insurance information, and an outpatient clinic schedule. On the other hand, digital donor walls can promote fundraising events, recognize donors, and encourage donations.
Waiting room digital signage is also an excellent platform for the deployment of social media feeds such as Facebook posts and videos. In conclusion, digital signs in waiting rooms that display relevant and vibrant content enhance patient engagement with your brand.
4. Improve Employee Communications
Hospital digital signage should be part of any health care center’s internal communication strategy. Indeed, effective internal communication is a major challenge for many patient care centers.
If you still use static banners to inform hospital staff of important notifications, you miss out on the benefits of healthcare digital signage. First, digital signs are flexible and display real-time announcements. Second, vibrant digital displays grab employee attention and leave memorable impressions.
Digital signage also eliminates the need to walk around with bulky folders. For instance, a display at the entrance of a patient room can indicate whether the patient is in quarantine. Similarly, digital screens at the nursing station can showcase shift schedules with integrated content apps on digital signage software.
Additionally, digital signs can display compliance guidelines at strategic points like employee break rooms. Physicians and nurses process much information every day, and you can leverage digital signage to remind them of best practices.
Digital signage content for employees includes hospital events, staff schedules, meetings, and department alerts. In addition, digital displays can recognize the contributions of various employees and celebrate company milestones.
In Conclusion
If you want to enrich the patient experience in your healthcare facility, invest in digital signage. Hospital digital signage brings order to chaotic premises by keeping employees and patients updated with real-time announcements.
