Why & How Do Patients Choose a Hospital?

Announcement icon Our technical white paper on BLE 5.1 + RTLS is out now! Click here to download .

Why & How Do Patients Choose a Hospital?

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

 

PenguinIN signs its newest client in Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah Financial District Development & Management Company in partnership with Coverage Points

PenguinIN signs its newest client in Saudi Arabia:
King Abdullah Financial District Development & Management Company (KAFD) in partnership with Coverage Points

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 10th May 2023 – In a signing ceremony held at KAFD, Saudi Arabia’s prime business and lifestyle destination, the King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC) formalized an agreement with PenguinIN for the development of a comprehensive indoor and outdoor navigation solution designed to improve the experience of the district’s tenants, residents and visitors.

Set in the heart of the Saudi capital Riyadh, KAFD is home to 1.6 million square meters of state-of-the-art office space, world-class venues and iconic luxury residences, designed to transform the way urban communities live, work, learn and play. A landmark development, KAFD is a key driver of Riyadh’s economic ambitions, and is owned and managed by the King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC).

With the new mapping solution, tenants, retail and hospitality businesses in the district will be able to apply indoor navigation for their employees and customers to facilitate the management and improvement of their experience. In this way, users’ experience of mobility within KAFD will be tailored to their individual needs. Visitors will therefore be able to select their path within KAFD to their end destination, find the best parking options, and choose from any of the mobility solutions available while residents can enjoy a home-to-office navigation experience that provides them with the most ecologically-friendly mode of travel.

“KAFD is a well-planned urban space that integrates public transport systems, but also encourages non-motorised transport through its network of skywalks and the provision of sustainable modes of transport, from scooters to an exclusive shuttle service,’ explained Gautam Sashittal, Chief Executive Officer of KAFD DMC. ‘Smart technology is integral to the district’s living experience and we are looking forward to the provision of a holistic navigation solution that will improve the quality of our services, and life at KAFD.”

“We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting project and look forward to working with the KAFD DMC team to enhance their smart city solutions. We are confident that our expertise and experience in the industry will enable us to deliver exceptional results for KAFD,” said Dr Mohammed Smadi, the CEO/CTO of PenguinIN. He added, “This milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team.”

As part of the district’s innovative smart city solutions, KAFD will connect its virtual and physical worlds through a mobile app for guests, tenants and residents alike. The navigation solution will be available for all app users.
PenguinIN offers Smart Campus solutions, including maps, navigation, traceability, and environmental sensing to offer technology-enabled campus experiences. The KAFD Campus Wayfinding project is an example of the scale of PenguinIN’s commitment to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 for digital transformation and the company’s investment in research and development for smart solutions.

ENDS

About KAFD
Situated in Riyadh, KAFD is an iconic business and lifestyle destination with state-of-the-art physical and digital infrastructure. The destination is owned and managed by King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC), which was established in 2018 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. KAFD’s 94 towers, designed by 25 world-leading architectural firms, have reshaped the skyline of Riyadh. The vibrant mixed-use district offers a range of experiences across its area of 1.6 million square meters and is the largest development globally to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the highest accreditation from USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council), which recognizes KAFD as a global leader in sustainability.
For further details about KAFD, please visit www.kafd.sa

Media Contact
Please address any enquiries to Suha Matar, Advisor, at [email protected] or via phone number: +966 11 814 0015

For more information, follow KAFD on:
LinkedIn
Twitter
Instagram

About Coverage Points
Coverage Points provides location-based data analytics, data-driven marketing, and consulting services. Coverage Points’ unique analytics platform gives rich insights about venues’ visitors. This insight can help monetize and optimize the guests’ Wi-Fi network and the venue space.
Learn more at www.coveragepoints.com

About PenguinIN
PenguinIN is a Smart Campus digital transformation solution provider. Our vision is to recreate living and working spaces through the digital transformation of processes and activities that touch staff, visitors and assets.
Learn more at www.penguinin.com, LinkedIn, or by reaching out at [email protected]