Indoor Navigation Solutions for Patient-Centric Healthcare Experience

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Tag: Healthcare digital transformation

Indoor Navigation Solutions for Patient-Centric Healthcare Experience

Posted on by Waed Os

Indoor Navigation & Indoor Wayfinding in Healthcare: Transforming Patient & Staff Experiences

In the pursuit of putting patients at the center of the healthcare experience, hospitals face the challenge of guiding individuals through large, complex facilities with multiple floors and sections. Even experienced healthcare workers sometimes encounter difficulties navigating hospital campuses. But patients, especially first-time visitors, often struggle the most.

Historically, hospitals relied on signage and front-desk guidance. While useful, these approaches had limitations and didn’t consistently provide reliable indoor navigation solutions.

Today, healthcare facilities are shifting toward smarter indoor navigation systems that leverage location data, Bluetooth-enabled applications, and intuitive indoor wayfinding technology to support patients, visitors, and staff alike.

Use Cases for Indoor wayfinding in Healthcare

Modern indoor navigation technology in hospitals offers a variety of benefits:

  • Seamless Patient Wayfinding: Real-time, step-by-step directions reduce stress and ensure timely arrivals.

  • Accessibility: Indoor navigation provides mobility-friendly routes and live updates.

  • Location-Based Messaging: Hospitals can deliver context-driven alerts and reminders.

  • EHR Integration: Linking navigation solutions with patient records enhances the digital healthcare experience.

  • Emergency Response: In Code Blue scenarios, navigation technology integrated with RTLS helps staff respond faster.

Benefits and Outcomes

Short-Term

  • Quicker patient flow, reduced wait times.

  • Lower stress for patients unfamiliar with the facility.

  • More efficient staff operations.

Long-Term

  • Improved patient loyalty.

  • Stronger hospital reputation with modern wayfinding solutions.

  • Streamlined operations, improved HCAHPS scores, and compliance.

Impact on Patients & Staff

Indoor navigation systems do more than guide— they reduce anxiety and improve transparency for patients. For staff, these solutions ease the onboarding process, improve satisfaction, and allow more focus on direct care rather than giving directions.

ROI of Indoor Navigation Systems

Hospitals adopting indoor navigation solutions see clear returns:

  • Cost Savings: Lower reliance on physical signage and maps.

  • Staff Efficiency: Automation reduces time spent guiding patients.

  • Revenue Growth: A better patient experience leads to loyalty and referrals.

Why BLE-Based Indoor Navigation Systems ?

Penguin Location Services delivers advanced indoor navigation technology powered by BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). Key advantages include:

  • Accuracy: Sub-room precision.

  • Efficiency: Low maintenance, long-lasting beacons.

  • Scalability: Expandable networks for growing facilities.

  • Mobile Integration: Seamless use with hospital apps.

Get in Touch

Penguin Location Services specializes in indoor wayfinding systems and hospital wayfinding solutions. Our PenNav Indoor Wayfinding Solution integrates smoothly with hospital applications and IT infrastructure.

📩 Contact us at [email protected] to schedule a demo

Hospital Wayfinding Technology Enhancing Patient Outdoor – Indoor Navigation Experience

Posted on by Waed Os

Hospital Mobile Apps: Boosting Adoption and Enhancing Patient Outdoor – Indoor Navigation Experience

Healthcare institutions are increasingly leveraging technology to enhance patient experiences and streamline services. One powerful tool is the hospital mobile app — two-thirds of the largest U.S. hospitals already offer one [Accenture, 2016].

These apps benefit both patients and staff. But building a successful app is only the beginning. To maximize value, adoption must be prioritized. This article explores strategies to drive uptake and highlights how Penguin Location Services integrates AI in location services, UWB positioning systems, and modern wayfinding technology to elevate patient care.

Building the Hospital Mobile App: What to Keep in Mind

1. Understanding User Needs

Patient experience should come first. Apps must simplify health management, appointment booking, and access to data. At the same time, healthcare staff should benefit from tools that reduce workload and streamline daily tasks.

2. User-Centric Design

Apps need a simple, intuitive interface that works for diverse patient demographics. A well-designed hospital tracking app encourages adoption and ongoing use.

3. Privacy and Security

Patient trust depends on strict data protection. Strong cloud services and centralized security measures are essential to safeguard sensitive medical information.

Value-Added Features that Drive Adoption

  • Patient-Centric Records: Access to medical history, test results, and reminders.

  • Appointment Management: Real-time scheduling, rescheduling, and cancellations reduce no-shows.

  • Telemedicine: Virtual visits and consultations empower patients and expand access to care.

  • Outdoor – Indoor Navigation: Integrated wayfinding technology ensures patients can move seamlessly from parking lots to hospital entrances and directly to their appointments, reducing anxiety and saving time.

  • UWB Positioning Systems: Ultra-wideband precision enables real-time tracking of staff, patients, and assets, ensuring efficiency and safety during critical scenarios like Code Blue emergencies.

These features transform apps into more than digital tools — they become patient engagement platforms powered by AI in location services.

Strategies to Market Your Hospital App

To ensure adoption, hospitals must actively promote their apps. Some proven strategies include:

  • Feature Branding: Spotlight individual features like Outdoor – Indoor Navigation to highlight unique value.

  • Wi-Fi Landing Pages: Encourage downloads when patients connect to hospital Wi-Fi.

  • QR Codes: Simple, instant access to the app store.

  • User Reviews: Build trust by showcasing positive experiences.

  • Staff Advocacy: Train nurses, physicians, and assistants to recommend the app to patients.

  • Print Promotion: Flyers, posters, and cards placed in waiting areas drive awareness.

Penguin Location Services supports hospitals not only with wayfinding technology but also with adoption strategies that increase downloads and ensure lasting engagement.

Partnering with Penguin Location Services

At Penguin Location Services, we specialize in AI in location services, UWB positioning systems, and advanced wayfinding technology that enhance hospital apps. From Outdoor – Indoor Navigation to RTLS-enabled staff tracking, our solutions empower healthcare institutions to deliver better patient experiences and more efficient workflows.

🚀 Ready to enhance your hospital app with next-generation AI-powered location services? Schedule a demo with Penguin Location Services today.

Why & How Do Patients Choose a Hospital?

Posted on by Issam AK

Why & How do Patients Choose a hospital?

Here’s a question for you: can you influence the patients’ choice of which hospital they attend to?

With the easily accessible medical and facility information online, patients are now more educated and informed about their choices and decisions. A 2017 UK study [1] has shown that convenient location continued to be a major influencing factor over hospital choice; however, other – perhaps less obvious – factors such as the number of beds and even parking spots are being viewed as a proxy for the level of service a hospital is likely to provide.

Information availability and patient freedom over healthcare provider choice drive private and public sectors to deliver a better overall patient experience. Albeit exciting from a patient perspective, it is challenging for operators to (1) identify areas of improvement which are rapidly and continuously evolving and (2) innovative and cost-effective ways to address these areas.

Creating key performance indicators (KPIs) for metrics that impact patient satisfaction and the corresponding tools to measure these KPIs should be a collaborative effort between the different departments. For example, IT managers who historically were responsible for the network and PC upkeep in hospitals, are now being asked to look after mobile applications and infrastructure specifically used to improve the patient experience.

In a 2018 survey [2] covering 1,000 healthcare consumers, it was found that the difficulty in finding one’s way around the hospital was worse of a challenge than poor communications from the doctor.  A solution addressing wayfinding within a hospital can span facility, IT, and patient experience departments.

In a Harvard Business Review article [3], it was shown that even though the average charge for an outpatient emergency room trip was $1,900 in 2016 (twice the average monthly rent for Americans), Patients who arrived at EDs with broken bones waited a painful 54 minutes, on average, before receiving any pain medication! The authors argue that hospitals’ waiting times should be measured and benchmarked against the national average waiting time. Hospitals that exhibit shorter waiting times than the average should be financially rewarded, while underperforming hospitals should be penalized. Such an initiative would involve finance, staff, legal, and patient advocacy teams.

It is our opinion that factors impacting the choice of healthcare provider are evolving in the digital era. Identifying and measuring KPIs is a cross-functional team effort with the ultimate objective of improving the overall patient experience and outcome.

PenguinIN is a healthcare digital transformation solution provider with patient experience solutions including PenNav: a best-in-class indoor wayfinding solution and PenTrack: a solution for asset and people tracking. Through analytics and business rules, PenguinIN works with facility managers, IT managers and patient experience directors to identify and resolve pain points in healthcare settings.

To learn more about what can help you achieve a better patient experience, or to share more thoughts, please reach out to us at [email protected]

 

[1] Patient choice modelling: how do patients choose their hospitals?  Available on: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28401405/
[2] 2018 Hospital Patient Survey Conducted by Scorpion.Co. Available on: https://www.scorpion.co/hospitals/expert-tips/intelligence/hospital-patient-survey-how-do-patients-choose-t/
[3] Harvard Business Review: To Reduce Emergency Room Wait Times, Tie Them to Payments by Nicos Savva and Tolga Tezcan. Available on: https://hbr.org/2019/02/to-reduce-emergency-room-wait-times-tie-them-to-payments