Articles and blogs written about the benefits of Digital Signage are most often geared towards businesses that are contemplating the implementation of it. They are often written from the perspective of a Digital Signage salesperson or another business person who may already have Digital Signage in place. Well, how about hearing it from a hospital patient’s perspective?
During my recent stay at a local hospital – one with absolutely NO digital signage in place – I noticed how old it looked. The staff was amazing – let’s get that out of the way – but the lack of clear wayfinding signage made it difficult to get to my destination in a timely manner. It’s outdated directional plaques left me walking the halls questioning whether or not I was going the right way. With numerous buildings, cafeterias, gift shops, exits and entries, it became slightly difficult for me and my loved ones to find my room, and once I was settled in there was no lack of complaints as visitors streamed in one by one. “Wow, this hospital is confusing,” and “Okay, how the heck do they expect people to find these rooms?” were just some of the frustrated remarks I heard as my room door swung open throughout the day.A lack of aesthetically pleasing signage may not be a concern for some businesses, but lost patients and guests are less than ideal and definitely not the way a hospital stay should begin.
My experience with the staff was superb, but I noticed how inefficient some processes were. My nurses didn’t seem to be in communication with each other when it came to giving me advice; I had to wait for nurses to confirm medication times because the dry-erase board had not been filled; and a couple nurses misspelled my name, which was more of a nuisance and a than an insufficiency, but unprofessional nonetheless.
Implementing Digital Signage with the right technology (which we featured here) would make a world of a difference.
