Hospitals are well-known for being high stress environments; with all the hustle and bustle across various departments, it can be very easy for communications to become lost in the noise. To overcome the challenges around the distribution of important information, many hospitals are now modernising their facilities with the addition of digital signage.
By placing digital displays at key access points and in heavily trafficked areas, hospitals can ensure that staff, patients and visitors are able to access the information they need when they need it.
From boosting productivity to improving the quality of patient care, there are many benefits to be gained from investing in a digital signage solution. Here are 5 key advantages of incorporating digital screens in hospitals.
1. Enhance Internal Communications
Having effective internal communication is crucial in medical environments. Digital signage is a powerful communication tool that can be used to keep a hospital running smoothly. Time-consuming manual procedures can be replaced with a range of different digital solutions, such as interactive touch screens.
These medical screens can be used to:
2. Educate Patients and Visitors
Providing messaging across hospitals is critical to the health and safety of staff, patients and visitors, as well as the efficiency of day-to-day operations. With digital screens in place, the delivery of health and safety or hygiene information can be easily updated as needed. Unlike posters and pamphlets that need to be reprinted, digital signage messaging can be modified in an instant to help manage evolving situations.
For example, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals will want to emphasise the importance of proper hygiene and social distancing measures. As the virus spreads very easily, it’s vital to have relevant procedures visible to all in the hospital in order to save lives.
Digital displays are especially useful for emergency situations in hospitals. During a crisis, hospital staff can activate an emergency feature on a display screen to inform everyone in the building of the urgent situation. For instance, if a child went missing, digital displays could be used to quickly and effectively communicate this message to the entire hospital.
3. Improve Waiting Room Experiences
Improve your patient experience by displaying helpful information in hospital waiting rooms. Digital screens can display wait times and the answers to FAQs to keep patients up to date and help them feel more at ease.
Waiting rooms in hospitals can often cause anxiety and can create impatient patients. Digital signage has the ability to display a variety of content including TV shows, news and other relevant hospital content that can assist in entertaining patients during the waiting period.
4. Direct Visitors With Ease
With a wide range of departments and sections throughout a hospital building, it can be confusing for patients and visitors to try and navigate the facilities. Medical touch screens can be integrated with way-finding technology to make it easier for people to find exactly where they need to go.
Way-finding kiosks can alleviate stress if a visitor is trying to get to a certain part of the hospital in a hurry. It can also help reduce congestion throughout the hospital by enabling patients to get to their destination faster, leading to a reduction in foot traffic in hallways. This lowered foot traffic will allow for clearer thoroughfares, allowing hospital staff to quickly and easily move through the space in an emergency situation.
Interactive way-finding tools can also aid in improving hospital efficiency by reducing the number of patients arriving to appointments late.
5. Instant Updates
As briefly touched on earlier, digital signage allows for instantaneous information updates. By using cloud-based software, nurses and administration teams can update content, modify the information or replace messages across all hospital screens from one location.
Digital signage simplifies the transmission of information, allowing for real-time updates where important communications can be prioritised as needed. It offers a great alternative to printed materials where information can quickly become outdated and supply levels must be continually monitored.
Learn More About Hospital Digital Signage
Discover how a number of public hospitals in Victoria implemented way-finding technology and digital signage to improve patient experiences in emergency departments.
If you’re interested in improving internal communication in your hospital, find out how the experts at Amped Digital can help.
