Indoor Wayfinding Technology – Improving Hospital Efficiencies
Many hospitals in Canada and indeed across the globe have always been poorly conceived patchworks that comprise of added-on construction. These tend to come up quickly as allowed by available funding. Due to the lack of suitable indoor wayfinding technology and indoor positioning systems, visitors and patients alike tend to spend lots of time wandering about, taking valuable time from the hospital employees who have no alternative but to assist them. For additional insights, please visit Jibestream.
Because staff, patients, and medical equipment are always in a constant state of motion, healthcare workers generally waste lots of time trying to locate and track equipment and people. Today, however, advances in indoor navigation technology are playing a vital role in terms of helping hospital staff to optimize clinical workflows and improve patient mobility.Using GPS & Indoor Maps
The holy grail of way-finding in large structure such as hospitals has been GPS-based app that visitors and patients and visitors can connect with their own devices. They can be used to locate themselves on the floor plan of the hospital, and then receive directions that will assist them get to their desired destination or location.
Indoor maps have been gaining popularity within the healthcare sector. During the past 5 years or so, mobile technology paired with indoor maps have allowed big medical facilities to locate staff, enhance the experiences of visitors by making it possible to navigate easily through outdoor and indoor facilities, in parking lots, to check in conveniently and even schedule appointments.
Easier Equipment, Patient Tracking & Movement
Now, using modern navigation and indoor positioning technology, healthcare assets can be tagged with beacons or locators to help locate them quickly in the event of emergencies. In case particular assets are meant to remain within a specific geo-fenced area, the officials gets alerted whenever these get moved or disabled.
Patients having physical disabilities can receive vital navigation tips helping them achieve their mobility goals, reducing the usual anxiety and stress typically associated with a hospital visit. These emerging indoor positioning and navigation technologies are not only boosting safety of patients but also preventing patient wandering and infant abductions.
The Future of Wayfinding
To overcome the challenges faced by GPS indoor navigation and the need to have exact indoor positioning, many companies are now turning to iBeacons technology. Through strategically placing several small beacons inside the structure or facility, these beacons are used in communicating with other devices like tablets or mobile phones to provide the user with specific information about where you are located.
Conclusion
Over the recent years, indoor navigation technology has begun making huge strides within the health industry. It is greatly enhancing the experience of patients and visitors to a hospital as well as improving operations efficiency. An efficient indoor positioning and navigation system can help in correlating data from social, mobile, and cloud technologies and have them integrated with the heath institution or hospital’s information system. This will create a seamless, personalized patient journey. For additional insights, please visit Jibestream.