Walk into any large, modern medical facility and you’ll likely see a wide range of digital signage and kiosk applications: wayfinding screens to guide visitors throughout the building, menu boards in the café, donor walls in the lobby to honor benefactors, patient check-in kiosks in registration, among others.
But even at the most technically-advanced hospitals and other healthcare facilities, you will also find sleek new flat-screens mounted on waiting room walls displaying the least appropriate and least advanced content: salacious reality TV shows, political shout fests, anxiety-provoking crime news, crime drama reruns, etc. Not only is cable TV content often inappropriate, it’s also peppered with commercials, some of which are also inappropriate for the waiting room environment. Decision makers at these organizations don’t like what’s on their waiting area screens; they often tell us how much they hate it. As distasteful as it may be to use commercial TV to pacify waiting patients and family members, those in charge don’t know what else to show. Without a solution, they stick with the familiar.
Waiting time is the perfect time to educate and inform patients. In most medical waiting areas, patients sit for about 30 minutes before someone calls them back to see the doctor. Their health and well being is foremost on their mind. Hospital marketing teams and patient educators recognize that this moment in the patient journey is an opportune time to inform. Digital signage technology combined with compelling health content can empower medical facilities with the tools necessary to turn waiting time into time well spent.
With cable and satellite the only control you have is to change channels or turn off the TV. Digital signage provides real control over what’s displayed on the screen. But that control comes with several questions: What content should we display? Should it all be educational? What about marketing our services? Who’s going to create the content? Where can we buy or license accurate content that’s also engaging? How do we address patients who are sight or hearing impaired? What about addressing the needs of minority patients and those who don’t speak English? Programming digital signage isn’t unlike programming a TV network. But the result can provide real value to visitors and enhance the appeal and reputation of the organization.
At the 2014 Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas, attendees from healthcare facilities will have a chance to discuss the challenges and opportunities of patient-focused digital signage with their peers at a workshop designed just for them. Whether you’re with a large organization that has extensive content resources or a small rural hospital with an equally small budget, this workshop will empower you with the information you need to start developing a powerful patient communications tool. In addition to tackling the key challenges of healthcare digital signage, workshop attendees will walk away with actionable tips, tricks and advice. And beyond the confines of the workshop, DSE attendees have access to the leading suppliers of digital signage hardware, software and services. The workshop discussion leader invites you to contact him at [email protected] with any questions.
Loren Goldfarb , COO, Everwell/MedVista Media will be presenting the Industry Roundtable Discussion entitled, "Overcoming Challenges of Creating Digital Signage Content for Healthcare," Wednesday, February 12th at Digital Signage Expo 2014 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, which will run February 12-13. For more information about DSE or to register for this or any other educational seminar or workshop and learn about digital signage go to www.dse2014.com
Loren Goldfarb has worked in media as a writer, producer and executive for more than 20 years. He co-founded Everwell, a digital signage network in healthcare facilities. Loren helps shape Everwell's business and content strategy and oversees the operations and video production teams. Before co-founding Everwell, he served as VP of production at Home Front Communications, a broadcast public relations firm in Washington, D.C., where he provided strategic counsel to federal government agencies, Fortune 500 companies and national non-profits. Goldfarb's television credits include Dateline NBC, PBS HealthWeek and ABC's Nightline, among others. He’s a frequent speaker at DSE events.
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker
