Benefits of Digital Signage in Healthcare

Healthcare is a huge industry covering everything from hospitals through to vets and doctor’s surgeries. With the amount of patients frequenting these venues on a daily basis to manage their healthcare needs, digital signage offers many benefits to both patients and healthcare workers alike. There are practical benefits, stress-relief benefits and of course, entertainment benefits that come with all types of digital signage. Let’s take a look at why digital signage is so important, what it can actually do and explore these benefits in more detail.

What is Digital Signage?

The first thing to do is take a look at exactly what digital signage is. Think about the last time you visited a healthcare practice yourself. How did it look? Were there screens you could see telling you how long your wait is, offering TV to watch while you wait, with streamlined processes that made you feel both comfortable and cared for? Fantastic! This is exactly what digital signage brings to the industry. It makes for a more relaxed and enjoyable visit, with better treatment and fewer mistakes made.

Put simply, digital signage is a series of media display screens that are situated throughout your healthcare practice. They create a visual, engaging experience for patients and offer the right kind of support to staff members.

Here are some of the different types of digital signage:

• Interactive Kiosks
• Touch Screen Portals
• Digital Information Boards
• Television
• Interactive Wayfinding Tools
• Video Screens

These can be placed anywhere throughout the practice and used in waiting room signs for patients through to exam rooms with doctors.

Unfortunately, many healthcare practices are outdated, with a very old-school approach to managing patients. Digital signage is an easy, simple solution that quickly and expertly enhances both the appearance and processes of a healthcare practice. Think of it like a facelift that both looks good and offers many ongoing benefits.

Benefits of Digital Signage

Now we know exactly what digital signage is, we can take a look at exactly how it is helping the industry. Here are some of the benefits that come with digital signage in healthcare.

Speeds up the process:

When you visit a doctor’s surgery, there are many steps involved. You need to check in, update your details, schedule any necessary future appointments, pay your bills, and more. This is all time-consuming processes, and you often have to wait in line behind other people to speak to the receptionist and organise it all. Touch screens are a form of digital signage that enable you to do this for yourself, without having to wait for a person to be available to assist you. You are able to go at your own pace, and give and get all the information you need, without being rushed or interrupted.

Provides entertainment:

Offering screens with shows or movies playing on them, offers something else for patients to focus on. This stops them from constantly watching the clock and worrying about the time, or building anxiety about the approaching appointment. Instead, they are offered as a distraction to ensure wait times seem even shorter.  Plus, if they have brought dependents in with them, it is a great way to keep them busy at the same time and to make the trip as easy as possible.

Reduces anxiety:

You can also get signs that show the waiting times on a display to everyone in the waiting room. This reduces the anxiety that comes with the unknown of how long you have to wait for your appointment, or whether there is one person in front of you or 10. It also eases the load on staff, who are constantly approached when people want to know waiting times. Another bonus to this is that patients can also wait elsewhere. They can wander off to a nearby café on the facility or sit outside until minutes before their appointment. This clears up the waiting room and makes for a much more pleasant experience, even if there are delays.

Provide directions:

If you have ever been to the hospital before then you will agree that hospital digital signage could make a huge difference. With so many buildings, hallways, rooms, lifts and different areas, it can be hard to find where you are going and to get there on time. Digital screens allow patients to see where they are going and operate as a wayfinding system throughout to help with navigation. This results in a lot less congestion in the hallways, keeping them clear in the case of emergency. Once again, this also eases pressure on staff, as there will be less delays with appointments due to people getting lost, along with less time spent handing out directions.

Eases boredom:

For those patients who end up staying in hospital, digital signage can ease the boredom. It offers games, TV, movie rental, along with updates about the hospital, their healthcare and more. This ensures the patient is across their healthcare decisions and how they are being treated for their issue. It also makes it much easier for the treating doctors and nurses. With digital signage outside the door, they can see when medication is due, where they are up to and get a run down on the patient’s history – all without entering the room and disturbing the patient in the process.

Great method of advertising:

Digital signage is also a great method of advertising across healthcare practices. Instead of spending excess money to update your marketing materials, you can simply change the message on your digital signage whenever it suits you. This ends up both cost-effective and convenient and is a great way of reaching the right audience (your patients) at the right time (while they are waiting). This advertising space can also act as an additional form of revenue for a healthcare practice, as you can sell the space to third-party healthcare businesses.

Staff communication:

Just like digital signage can be used in waiting rooms for communication, they can also be placed in staffrooms and offices to open up internal communication. You can instantly update staff with new policies, treatments, safety alerts and more.

As you can see, there are many benefits involved in digital signage, both to patients and healthcare staff. It goes beyond aesthetics, and offers practical solutions that improve communication, processes and health in general. If your healthcare practice could do with some modernising from digital signs, then get in contact with the experts from Enplug. We can manage all your digital sign needs and ensure your practice is equipped with the latest technology to streamline processes and pass on all the benefits to staff and patients.