Some might say operating a healthcare facility is like conducting an orchestra – the environment and its constituents must be curated and harmoniously controlled with the utmost precision.
Maestro’s seemingly erratic gestures keep the orchestra synchronised and unified to deliver a melodic listening experience.
If only it were as easy as it sounds!
The first pandemic in over 100 years—COVID-19—has put hospitals and healthcare facilities to the test, begging the question:
Can quality care be delivered efficiently and effectively during periods of rising and unfamiliar pressures?
This has proven to be possible in most cases, but it’s not been without the introduction of strict state led protocols and the aid of more technologically oriented capabilities.
At the peak of the crisis, we held an online event looking at the impact of COVID on hospitals globally, and how technology—specifically, wayfinding—can play a role in supporting healthcare delivery and driving a vastly improved experience for the entire supply chain. In this guide, we’ll cover:
A robust wayfinding system is crucial for augmenting complex infrastructure and building environments to optimise operations for maximum performance and efficiency, as well as serving the unique needs and demands of its operators, users and visitors. Be it hospitals, universities or transport facilities, wayfinding and navigation technologies can better connect users with their environment for a more intuitive experience.
According to the University of Michigan, wayfinding (otherwise referred to as indoor mapping) is about “knowing where you are in a building or an environment, knowing where your desired location is, and knowing how to get there from your present location.”
A wayfinding system then, can be defined as:
“An information system that helps individuals understand and navigate a physical environment.”
An effective wayfinding system simulates its environment and the elements within it. It can help meet the needs of different users within a building, ensure the safety of individuals, and help in optimising facility operations including resource management, access, registration, process and monitoring.
Wayfinding can help:
Quality care is a key promise of health services globally and studies have shown that an improved environment and patient experience can deliver improved health and rehabilitation outcomes. To deliver on this promise, hospitals and health facilities are tasked with providing the best possible experience for users of their facility.
Of course, no two experiences are the same.
A patient’s experience compared to that of a staff member or health worker’s is vastly different, with related yet alternate objectives for engaging with a health facility. See examples in the diagram below.
With these different objectives, each role requires a different journey within the shared environment. Between individuals on either side, the experience differs even further. An intelligent wayfinding system therefore must be one that is human-centric in its design – that is, a system providing various users with relevant assistance and information to navigate and engage effectively with a designated space.
A human-centred solution is one that defines clear pathways to support the interactions necessary for the specific individual and is necessary with the effective facilitation of digitally transforming technologies overall.
Human centricity can reflect various aspects of the hospital experience, from the degree to which patients feel safe and supported, to the timeliness of service, and ultimately, the quality of support, information and care delivered. On the employee side, it can affect the efficiency and quality of service delivered, resource management, as well as service safety and accessibility.
Wayfinding solutions are effective when:
From the moment a patient or employee enters a health facility, to the time they leave, they must negotiate a series of interchanging and overlapping processes, information points, and changing dynamics to achieve their respective objectives.
A human-centred wayfinding solution takes into account the various roles in the environment – patients, patients’ carers and loved ones, suppliers, facilities managers and technicians, hospital staff, doctors and nurses – and supports each unique journey, facilitating appropriate interactions to deliver the optimum user experience.
A human-centric wayfinding solution:
Large health facilities like hospitals are complex environments with often well-established processes and systems. As we’ve established, these processes and systems need to work together in harmony.
An effective wayfinding solution can fit comfortably and seamlessly with core business systems, integrating with existing workflows and technology when and where needed. This can include facility management software, scheduling and booking platforms, and any existing asset tracking solutions.
Privacy and data security are understandably of great concern with any modern, technological solution as are concerns with access to prohibited or restricted rooms or wards within a hospital.
Effective wayfinding systems must be part of a holistic solution involving robust threat modelling to ensure hospitals are aware of and are able to mitigate any potential privacy and security risks.
Good wayfinding solutions are highly secure, with unique permissions and restrictions embedded within it. A secure wayfinding system will utilise strong access keys and support SSO platforms to ensure customised map layers are available only to the relevant users or managers. Other protective measures such as two-factor authentication and data encryption are essential, but available in modern offerings too.
Ultimately, wayfinding is about understanding and navigating an environment to facilitate the desired experience and outcomes.
Robust wayfinding technology can assist health facilities in delivering on their core promise of quality care, supporting a range of users and requirements.
Wayfinding is an essential instrument in the healthcare orchestra, helping facilitating positive health outcomes, providing exceptional experiences for users, and delivering significant operational improvements for facility managers.
Let the music play. 
Interested in wayfinding for your health facility? Hear from WHO digital expert Dr Padmanesan Narasimhan, human-centred design consultants ThinkPlace and technology partners Mapwize in this free webinar on indoor mapping technology for healthcare (no sign-up required).
Imran Qazi General Manager
Imran Qazi is a General Manager at Lapis, with over 15 years’ experience in enterprise app and custom software development. Imran is passionate about helping organisations achieve their strategic objectives with seamless digital ecosystems, apps, custom software and process improvement. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Some might say operating a healthcare facility is like conducting an orchestra – the environment and its constituents must be curated and harmoniously controlled with the utmost precision.
Maestro’s seemingly erratic gestures keep the orchestra synchronised and unified to deliver a melodic listening experience.
If only it were as easy as it sounds!
The first pandemic in over 100 years—COVID-19—has put hospitals and healthcare facilities to the test, begging the question:
Can quality care be delivered efficiently and effectively during periods of rising and unfamiliar pressures?
This has proven to be possible in most cases, but it’s not been without the introduction of strict state led protocols and the aid of more technologically oriented capabilities.
At the peak of the crisis, we held an online event looking at the impact of COVID on hospitals globally, and how technology—specifically, wayfinding—can play a role in supporting healthcare delivery and driving a vastly improved experience for the entire supply chain. In this guide, we’ll cover:
A robust wayfinding system is crucial for augmenting complex infrastructure and building environments to optimise operations for maximum performance and efficiency, as well as serving the unique needs and demands of its operators, users and visitors. Be it hospitals, universities or transport facilities, wayfinding and navigation technologies can better connect users with their environment for a more intuitive experience.
According to the University of Michigan, wayfinding (otherwise referred to as indoor mapping) is about “knowing where you are in a building or an environment, knowing where your desired location is, and knowing how to get there from your present location.”
A wayfinding system then, can be defined as:
“An information system that helps individuals understand and navigate a physical environment.”
An effective wayfinding system simulates its environment and the elements within it. It can help meet the needs of different users within a building, ensure the safety of individuals, and help in optimising facility operations including resource management, access, registration, process and monitoring.
Wayfinding can help:
Quality care is a key promise of health services globally and studies have shown that an improved environment and patient experience can deliver improved health and rehabilitation outcomes. To deliver on this promise, hospitals and health facilities are tasked with providing the best possible experience for users of their facility.
Of course, no two experiences are the same.
A patient’s experience compared to that of a staff member or health worker’s is vastly different, with related yet alternate objectives for engaging with a health facility. See examples in the diagram below.
With these different objectives, each role requires a different journey within the shared environment. Between individuals on either side, the experience differs even further. An intelligent wayfinding system therefore must be one that is human-centric in its design – that is, a system providing various users with relevant assistance and information to navigate and engage effectively with a designated space.
A human-centred solution is one that defines clear pathways to support the interactions necessary for the specific individual and is necessary with the effective facilitation of digitally transforming technologies overall.
Human centricity can reflect various aspects of the hospital experience, from the degree to which patients feel safe and supported, to the timeliness of service, and ultimately, the quality of support, information and care delivered. On the employee side, it can affect the efficiency and quality of service delivered, resource management, as well as service safety and accessibility.
Wayfinding solutions are effective when:
From the moment a patient or employee enters a health facility, to the time they leave, they must negotiate a series of interchanging and overlapping processes, information points, and changing dynamics to achieve their respective objectives.
A human-centred wayfinding solution takes into account the various roles in the environment – patients, patients’ carers and loved ones, suppliers, facilities managers and technicians, hospital staff, doctors and nurses – and supports each unique journey, facilitating appropriate interactions to deliver the optimum user experience.
A human-centric wayfinding solution:
Large health facilities like hospitals are complex environments with often well-established processes and systems. As we’ve established, these processes and systems need to work together in harmony.
An effective wayfinding solution can fit comfortably and seamlessly with core business systems, integrating with existing workflows and technology when and where needed. This can include facility management software, scheduling and booking platforms, and any existing asset tracking solutions.
Privacy and data security are understandably of great concern with any modern, technological solution as are concerns with access to prohibited or restricted rooms or wards within a hospital.
Effective wayfinding systems must be part of a holistic solution involving robust threat modelling to ensure hospitals are aware of and are able to mitigate any potential privacy and security risks.
Good wayfinding solutions are highly secure, with unique permissions and restrictions embedded within it. A secure wayfinding system will utilise strong access keys and support SSO platforms to ensure customised map layers are available only to the relevant users or managers. Other protective measures such as two-factor authentication and data encryption are essential, but available in modern offerings too.
Ultimately, wayfinding is about understanding and navigating an environment to facilitate the desired experience and outcomes.
Robust wayfinding technology can assist health facilities in delivering on their core promise of quality care, supporting a range of users and requirements.
Wayfinding is an essential instrument in the healthcare orchestra, helping facilitating positive health outcomes, providing exceptional experiences for users, and delivering significant operational improvements for facility managers.
Let the music play.
Interested in wayfinding for your health facility? Hear from WHO digital expert Dr Padmanesan Narasimhan, human-centred design consultants ThinkPlace and technology partners Mapwize in this free webinar on indoor mapping technology for healthcare (no sign-up required).
Imran Qazi General Manager
Imran Qazi is a General Manager at Lapis, with over 15 years’ experience in enterprise app and custom software development. Imran is passionate about helping organisations achieve their strategic objectives with seamless digital ecosystems, apps, custom software and process improvement. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
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