5 Ways Healthcare Signage Can Prevent Hospital Wayfinding Headaches

Think of a hospital and most likely you are filled with a sense of dread. Patients head to the hospital to feel better, yet ironically, very few medical facilities are designed to serve visitors in a way that contributes to a sense of peace, togetherness, and healing. Instead, their often identical floor plans, unidentifiable rooms, and lack of easy-to-follow signage can contribute to an overwhelming sense of confusion and frustration that is stressful for both patients and the families visiting them. In an increasingly digital age, is it possible that the medical field – advanced as it may be – is still lagging behind most industries when it comes to its ability to leverage digital signage to improve the way its visitors navigate through hospitals and experience the healthcare system?

With the rise of digital transformation, hospital wayfinding solutions have continued to advance in recent years. Patients, hospital guests, and healthcare professionals no longer have to search for a reception desk or attempt to memorize directions from a website in order to locate the department they need. That might seem like a small benefit, but better wayfinding signs can do far more than just get patients and visitors to the right place. Far from just a sign, a wayfinding system is an inviting, dynamic way of providing pertinent information to hospital visitors when they need it most. Not only can digital signage alleviate issues with hospital wayfinding, it can also serve as a communication tool for a wide range of other healthcare needs. From displaying pertinent PSAs to honouring donors and displaying valuable advertising, these digital signs offer endless possibilities. Ready to know what digital healthcare signage can do for you? Here are five of the top ways digital signage can improve your hospital experience:

1. Reduce Confusion

Getting lost when injured or in distress only exacerbates the emotional and physical toll of a hospital visit. When patients aren’t feeling well and are running behind schedule, trying to make it to a booked appointment, frustration levels can rise. By providing patients with clear, visible instructions on a digital sign, blow ups can be avoided and traffic can flow smoothly throughout your facility. In fact, wayfinding systems in hospitals have been proven to reduce perceptions of pain, lower anxiety and stress, and benefit clinicians. Overall, this leads to a more united and less cumbersome healthcare experience for patients and professionals alike.

2. Leave a Lasting Impression 

Patients spend a considerable amount of time staring into space, reading outdated magazines, and checking their phones while waiting around in hospitals. Why not capture their attention and inform them about news, activities, and events taking place in your facility instead? With so many eyes available to see your messaging, it only makes sense to engage with hospital visitors, making them feel cared for and aware of available resources while waiting. Plus, did you know that 75 percent of hospital patients recall at least one message after viewing a digital sign? That means more exposure for the initiatives taking place at your healthcare facility, high potential for advertising opportunities, and less time-consuming questions for your information and nursing staff.

3. Increase Interaction

As much as every healthcare professional would love to be able to spend extensive time with their patients, sometimes the schedule just doesn’t allow for it. But that shouldn’t mean that conversations with clients need to end. Why not communicate with your patients in a different way? Hospital wayfinding signs enable doctors and specialists to deliver educational information to their patients without the requirement of a face-to-face meeting. Congratulate patients who have seen success from recent treatments, remind them of office hours and holiday closures, invite them to follow you on social media, and more. With multiple opportunities for engagement, patients don’t necessarily have to have an appointment to connect with their healthcare providers.

4. Make Your Waiting Room Fun 

Sick children are rarely patient or cheerful. But being distracted by activities can make the hospital experience more bearable for children who are under the weather.  For both parents and children, waiting for a name to be called from the reception desk doesn’t have to be as stressful as it has been for years. With hospital wayfinding solutions, you can turn your waiting area into a trivia competition, an amusing slideshow display, or even a gaming system (compatible with any smartphone).

5. Extra Emergency Support 

As any nurse or doctor will tell you, hospitals are unpredictable environments. One moment, things can be running smoothly. The next, there’s an urgent matter that must be addressed. Healthcare signs can be invaluable when these crucial moments arise. They enable healthcare professionals to share alerts with hospital visitors in an immediate and highly-visible way. Whether it’s something as simple as cautioning patients about a wet floor, or something as complex as notifying patients about a disease outbreak, your team can feel a little more at east knowing there is a seamless way to get messages to patients. As hospital wayfinding signs become easier to implement, more healthcare facilities are considering their adoption. When weighing digital signage benefits, it’s apparent that signage can be a great resource in hospitals and healthcare facilities After all, a more streamlined hospital experience for your patients also means a more streamlined experience for staff members. And in the healthcare world, every chance to lessen the discomfort and stress of patients is an accomplishment. We can all agree it’s time to modernize healthcare environments, have you adopted digital signage yet?