EXCLUSIVE: Guided by Technology

Part 1: Digital wayfinding improves hospital navigation, patient experience

Part 2: Hospital digital wayfinding can be tool for patient engagement

Part 3: Facilities team helps maintain the human connection in digital wayfinding


Screenshot courtesy of Connexient

Hospital digital wayfinding can be tool for patient engagement

By Mike Plotnick for Healthcare Facilities Today


Saint Mary's Hospital in Waterbury, Conn. is beta testing a new commercial smartphone and tablet app developed to enhance both wayfinding and patient engagement.  

Available for Apple and Android devices, the MediNav app incorporates stylized indoor maps and turn-by-turn directions so visitors can find any location in the hospital.   

The identical interface is accessible on iPad stations at several kiosks throughout the facility, enabling patients to print out maps via wireless printers or download them directly to their personal device. 

“It’s designed to complement traditional signage and provide more choice to patients and visitors,” says Mark Green, CEO of Connexient, the company that developed the app. “Some people are going to be oriented more to signage and others are more familiar and comfortable using their smartphone.” 

Green says hospitals have experimented with wayfinding kiosks in the past, but many abandoned them when maintenance and content management became too burdensome. The MediNav offers a solution to that issue. 

“Using the real-time map editor tool, facilities can easily makes changes and publish them to whichever area or platform they want to update,” he says.

A built-in QR code reader can also facilitate navigation by enabling patients and visitors to scan static signage within the hospital and instantly receive turn-by-turn directions to their final destination.

“It basically transitions the user from the ‘physical’ world of a static wayfinding sign to the ‘virtual’ world of a smartphone-based indoor map and navigation app,” Green says. 

Beyond the mapping capabilities, the app includes a Parking Planner feature that recommends the closest parking structure to a specific destination, as well as a Car Finder function that lets users save their parking spot so they can recall it later.

Green’s goal is to deliver an end-to-end wayfinding experience that begins from a patient’s home and extends to that person’s entire healthcare network.  

The next generation of the app will integrate a HIPAA-compliant secure messaging platform that enables users to send SMS texts and secure email messages.   

“It will facilitate better overall communications between patients and providers,” he says. “Because all physicians, nurses and staff can be added to the system, it can also serve as a staff communications tool that enables instant communications with anyone in the building.”



June 21, 2013


Topic Area: Information Technology


Recent Posts

How Backup Power Needs Vary Across Healthcare Settings

Manufacturers discuss how evolving codes, technologies and care settings shape healthcare backup power strategies.


Flexible Design Strategies Help OhioHealth Maximize Clinical Space

Doing more with less was key to the renovated facility’s design.


New Bass Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases Opens

The new space not only offers more exam rooms but also features 15 private infusion bays to allow privacy for all patients and their caregivers during treatment.


Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Daytona Beach Opens

Hospital amenities include all private patient rooms, a spacious therapy gym featuring advanced rehabilitation technologies, an activities of daily living suite and more.


What Healthcare Facilities Can Learn from a $49 Million Window Failure

A major window system failure at the University of Iowa’s Children’s Hospital sparked a costly replacement project – and a $49.4 million arbitration win.


 
 


FREE Newsletter Signup Form

News & Updates | Webcast Alerts
Building Technologies | & More!

 
 
 


All fields are required. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.