Dynamic displays in health-care facilities

by all | 10 February 2014 8:30 am

By Lyle Bunn
Digital signage is particularly well-suited for hospitals, clinics and other health-service environments. Information can be provided on an as-needed and as-available basis, with messages that are interpreted easily by passersby. Waiting times can become useful for the delivery of health advice. Physicians and specialists can communicate more efficiently with staff, volunteers, patients and visitors. There are also opportunities for partner organizations.

The delivery of health services has long been well-served by visual media, from workstation displays to diagnostic imaging. Both digital projectors and flat-panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are used in treatment planning, teaching and other activities.

“We consistently find the use of digital media supports the focus on care, education or communications with patients, visitors, staff, donors and volunteers,” says Pierre Richer, CEO of NEC Display Solutions, an LCD vendor.

Today, it is common for patients and visitors to be informed and entertained in waiting areas through dynamic displays (which are known to reduce perceived waiting times), but digital signage networks can also allow messages to be presented anywhere and anytime. The medium can deliver many benefits for the health-care environment, at the most relevant times and locations.

“Digital signage is now seen as an asset to help communicate effectively with patients and visitors,” says Dave Rathbun, vice-president (VP) of national accounts for Four Winds Interactive, a digital signage software developer. “Hospitals are deploying integrated, easy-to-manage networks to serve many applications and support a wide variety of types and sources of data, including direct and live interfaces with the hospitals’ information systems.”

“Dynamic signage is no longer considered optional,” says Mike White, president and CEO of Multi-Media Solutions, an audiovisual (AV) system integrator. “Health-care providers building new facilities do not consider the investment extravagant, but rather a requirement to meet patients’ expectations, with applications like interactive information kiosks, wayfinding, facility information and emergency notifications. They are proactively planning and facilitating digital signage in their infrastructure, not allowing it to be an afterthought.”

Digital signage has become part of a communications continuum. Typically, content created for one medium can be repurposed for another. This ‘transmedia’ approach minimizes the cost and time to produce content and maintains consistency of branding and messaging.

“The return on investment (ROI) evaluation process has helped hospitals better clarify the objectives for a digital signage network,” says Mary Hood, CEO of Digital Roads, another AV system integrator. “Collaboration during planning helps assure the technology can meet expectations. Too often, networks deployed without proper planning have been short on dynamic, interesting content.”

Communications benefits
In many ways, digital signage in the health-care sector is responding to growing needs for the cost-effective, innovative, efficient provision of information.

“Wall space is precious and health-care providers don’t want to clutter it with countless posters, plaques and banners,” says Ryan Cahoy, managing director at Rise Display, a Toronto-based provider of displays, web-based content management and supporting services. “Digital signage can present more messages and information with less wall space, in a more modern and interesting way.”

The displays can be used to reinforce and amplify key messages in a health-care setting, increase awareness of department activities, improve wayfinding, promote lectures or other events, increase traffic to web-based health-care resources and reduce costs related to printing, distributing, posting and removing notices.

“Digital signage has shown value to employees who are always moving around the large facilities, rarely in one place for very long,” says Paul Flanigan, VP of content strategy for Saddle Ranch Digital, which plans networks and creates content. “Schedules change often, so up-to-the-minute information is useful to everyone. It provides tremendous benefits, as everyone knows where to look to stay informed.”

Policies and procedures can be disseminated, news items can be announced (such as new staff hires) and patrons and volunteers can be given recognition, all with greater speed and flexibility than before, using today’s content management systems.

“Dynamic signage is no longer new or especially challenging,” says an information technology (IT) project leader at one hospital, who prefers to remain anonymous. “Having it work for the facility is the key. The processes for creating and approving content are very important.”

Interactivity is also becoming more common. Digital wayfinding systems, especially can use software to generate written and visual directions to help visitors find their way to their destination.

“A health-service facility can be an intimidating and stressful environment,” says Four Winds’ Rathbun. “Clear messaging via digital signage can improve the experience by making navigation easier.”

Advertising opportunities
It is also possible for digital signage to provide new revenue through advertising. The Canadian Health Media Network (CHMN) is an example of this trend, the result of collaboration between various digital out-of-home (DOOH) networks reaching waiting rooms in family and group health centres, hospitals, multi-practice medical centres and primary care facilities, as well as medical laboratories and x-ray and ultrasound clinics. As a marketing affiliation between these facilities, it has been able to offer properly measured and validated demographics to advertising buyers.

While ad-based digital signage networks are more commonly found in commercial settings, Northern Sky Research (NSR) expects global ad revenues from health-care networks will grow to 13 per cent of the total by 2019.

“With the required metrics in place, the health-care sector should exhibit steady DOOH advertising growth potential,” says Prashant Butani, formerly a senior analyst at NSR and now a client manager at Cable&Wireless Worldwide, a telecommunications service provider.

Lyle Bunn is strategy architect for Bunn Co., based in Brighton, Ont., providing analysis, consulting and education for the digital signage industry. For more information, visit www.lylebunn.com[6].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/dynamic-displays-in-health-care-facilities/

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