When most people think of a digital directory within a healthcare setting, they think of a digital display that is either wall mounted or within a kiosk. On that digital display sits a variety of destinations that can include offices, departments, amenities, physician names, and parking areas. We often refer to these destinations as “listings”. Each listing will have unique identifiers attached to them, which most commonly are floor, suite, and room number. Having this information in a high traffic area helps patients and visitors quickly identify their destination and location within the building.
Since the directory is digital, it provides value to facilities and property managers responsible for keeping the directory up to date by allowing quick and easy changes from their computer, with edits presenting immediately on the display. Healthcare settings are constantly changing directory listings due to new or updated building areas and staffing changes. Often there are multiple directories on a campus or within a building so the ability to change all of the directories from a computer, versus having to manually change each listing at each display, creates efficiency, and ultimately saves time and money.
However, the Digital Directory in healthcare as we know it, has changed. Technology has provided the tools to enhance the experience of the digital directory and enhance the features and the problems is solves. Adding wayfinding to the directory is a popular feature for healthcare buildings such as hospitals or large campuses. Wayfinding expands the listing to provide a map to help the visitor or patient find their destination.
This map can also be downloaded to the patient or visitor’s phone so they can carry it with them on their journey. The maps can be two dimensional, three dimensional, or interactive with blinking symbols to mark their paths.
The Digital Directory is now providing solutions for a common challenge in any healthcare setting: communication. It is extremely difficult in today’s world for Healthcare organizations to get their message out to the community, let alone visitors and patients that are already inside their buildings. Pop-Up floor banners and posters are often used to communicate to visitors and patients, but now those appear “old school” and don’t fit into the architectural environment that organizations spend an incredible amount of money on to get the look and feel that they recognize will be most comforting for their visitors. Healthcare facilities are now taking advantage of their digital directories to execute this task. The display on the directory can be divided up into sections, they can utilize buttons to display specific content, or they can even use multiple screens to create a content hub.
Messages like “Flu Shots in the Pharmacy”, “Don’t forget to wash your hands”, or “Happy Nurses Month” are all messages that can be shared through your digital directory. You can also share images, PDF’s, art, video content, news, weather, local attractions, and an endless amount of content that you need to create the best experience for your visitors and patients.
The Digital Directory in a healthcare setting has come a long way in the last couple years. The value of the new Digital Directory in Healthcare offers a variety of options and solutions that help create the most pleasurable experience for your visitors and patients. Its technology provides efficiency, cost savings, and problem solving through an evolution of a basic device that can now be customized to provide the outcomes you are looking to achieve.
Author: Anthony Febbraro, Managing Director, Bridge Healthcare USA www.bridgehcusa.com