Healthcare buildings in the United States have become bigger and more complicated over the past years. For example, Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte covers more than 2.8 million square feet. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s campus spreads over 70 acres. These large spaces have many buildings, floors, and departments, which can confuse patients, visitors, and staff.
Old ways to find your way, like paper maps, signs, and asking people, are not enough anymore. Patients often find it hard to get to the right place, especially when they feel worried or don’t know the building. Hospital managers and IT staff know that when patients get lost or arrive late, schedules get messed up and staff have more work. Hospital workers spend time helping visitors find their way instead of focusing on medical care.
This problem has created a need for new digital wayfinding tools that give real-time, accurate directions.
Geolocation in healthcare uses technology like Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, Wi-Fi, GPS, and indoor positioning systems to find where patients and visitors are inside hospital buildings. GPS works well outside but not indoors because buildings block the signal. That’s why indoor positioning is important.
Hospitals place hundreds or thousands of small BLE beacons throughout their buildings. For example, Atrium Health put about 3,000 beacons on its hospital campus. These beacons send weak signals that smartphones can pick up to figure out a person’s exact location. Along with Wi-Fi and sensors, these systems update the user’s position every half second. This lets the phone show a “blue dot” on a map, like Google Maps.
This location data powers phones or kiosks that give patients step-by-step indoor directions. It helps guide them from where they are to exam rooms, cafes, parking lots, or emergency rooms. It can also avoid obstacles like construction or closed paths and change the route if needed.
Using BLE and Wi-Fi together has worked well in hospitals such as Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City. Brigham’s wayfinding app saw over a 1,000% increase in use when a link was added to appointment reminder texts. This shows that patients use and benefit more when navigation help is built right into communication.
Mobile apps act as personal and portable navigation tools that patients can use before getting to the hospital and while inside. These apps offer navigation, appointment booking, access to health records, bill payment, and telemedicine. Together, these features form a “digital front door” that gives a smooth experience from arrival to discharge.
For example, Saint Luke’s Hospital uses mobile wayfinding apps together with kiosks and interactive screens around their campus. Patients get real-time updates, advice on elevator access or routes for wheelchairs, and location-based notifications.
By putting important hospital services and navigation in one app, patients have an easier time getting the care they need. This helps them feel more sure about moving through big or confusing buildings. It can also improve patient satisfaction and attendance at appointments.
Besides mobile apps, hospitals use interactive kiosks placed at entrances and waiting spots. These kiosks show maps with features like 3D views, virtual helpers, and augmented reality (AR) navigation. AR puts digital arrows or signs over the real view, making it feel like GPS inside the building.
Eye-In Media makes healthcare wayfinding kiosks with features for accessibility, such as audio directions for people with vision problems and easy-to-use screens for those with limited mobility. Their systems also connect with appointment reminders to send directions by text or email. This helps reduce patient stress and makes sure people get to their appointments on time.
These kiosks also save hospital staff time because fewer visitors need personal direction. They cut costs by reducing paper maps and let hospitals update maps quickly when there are changes like hallway closures.
Wayfinding systems that use geolocation and mobile apps not only help patients but also make hospital operations better. When patients do not get lost, fewer appointments are missed or delayed. This improves hospital income and services. Staff spend less time giving directions and more time on their work.
For example, Oregon Medical Group saw patient wait times drop by 50% after using Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) with wayfinding. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist gained over $10 million in benefits by using RTLS for tracking equipment and automating workflows, including navigation help.
Real-time wayfinding also helps during emergencies by allowing patients and staff to move fast to the needed spots in complex buildings.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being added to wayfinding to improve it beyond basic directions. AI looks at location data patterns and can predict patient movement, improve route choices, and give tailored guidance.
For example, AI systems use information like the type of appointment, patient mobility limits, or language needs to change navigation help. This makes it easier for patients with disabilities or non-English speakers to get the help they need.
CenTrak’s Enterprise Location Services mix AI with RTLS to automate tasks like nurse call responses, clinical handover notes, and infection control checks. AI finds delays and automates simple tasks so medical staff can spend more time with patients.
Automated reminders with navigation links sent by text or app lead to better patient participation and fewer missed visits. Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s app use jumped by 1,000% after adding wayfinding to their reminders.
Combining AI with mobile wayfinding improves hospital efficiency, patient experience, safety, and overall satisfaction.
Since healthcare data is private, protecting patient privacy is very important when using wayfinding technologies. Location tracking collects personal data, so hospitals must follow rules like HIPAA.
Good wayfinding systems use encryption, user checks, and data anonymizing to stop unauthorized access. Patients should be clearly told how their location information is used and be able to control these permissions.
Strong data security builds trust, encourages people to use the system, and protects hospitals from legal risks. Companies like ARway.ai and Mappedin focus on security alongside technology.
Atrium Health: Put 3,000 BLE beacons in its Carolinas Medical Center. They made a mobile app called “Atrium Health Directions” to help visitors find their way across nearly 3 million square feet. The app also works with appointment systems based on user ideas to make things easier.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital: Built a mobile-friendly wayfinding system using Wi-Fi and magnetic positioning. Adding app links in appointment reminders greatly increased patient use. This helped patients arrive on time and made their experience better.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta: Uses BLE beacons to guide visitors on its 70-acre campus, making it easier to move around large areas.
Eye-In Media: Offers AR wayfinding kiosks that work with hospital systems, including electronic health records and reminders. Their kiosks have accessibility features to help all patients.
CenTrak: A leader in RTLS, combining location tracking, AI, and workflow automation. It helps hospitals save money, reduce waits, improve nurse call responses, and support infection control with digital tools.
Hospital leaders and IT managers who want better patient navigation should think about these points when choosing wayfinding tools:
Scalability: The system should work for one building or many, with room to grow slowly if needed.
Integration: It should connect well with appointment systems, health records, nurse call systems, and digital signs to share data easily.
User-Focused Design: Simple screens, language options, and accessibility features help all patients use it.
Real-Time Updates: Ability to quickly change maps and routes to show construction, closures, or emergencies is important.
Multi-Platform Access: Wayfinding should be available on phones, kiosks, and computers to make it easy for patients.
Data Security: Strong privacy rules and legal compliance protect patient information.
Support and Maintenance: Ongoing training, tech help, and data reports keep the system effective.
By picking geolocation and mobile wayfinding tools that fit their needs and technology, hospitals can lower missed appointments, cut costs, and improve patient experiences.
AI is playing a bigger part in improving healthcare wayfinding beyond just showing directions. It studies lots of location and patient data to make navigation and hospital work better.
Predictive Navigation: AI guesses where patients will go next and helps apps suggest paths that avoid crowded spots or long detours.
Personalization: AI uses patient info like mobility, urgency, or language to give custom directions. This helps all patients feel included.
Workflow Automation: AI works with Real-Time Location Systems to automate tasks. For example, nurse call responses get faster as AI knows where patients are and alerts staff.
Operational Insights: AI watches hospital traffic and delays. It gives advice on where to change facilities or move staff for better results.
Infection Control: AI tracks handwashing and contacts to help hospitals reduce infections and meet rules.
Health leaders benefit from AI-powered wayfinding by saving time, lowering mistakes, and letting teams focus more on patient care. Using AI and location systems matches healthcare goals like good value, patient focus, and smooth operation.
Digital wayfinding in healthcare links location technology with mobile apps to create simple and less stressful patient visits. Using these systems helps U.S. hospitals improve patient happiness, reduce no-shows, speed up staff work, and improve care quality.
Hospital managers and IT leaders should pick scalable, safe, and easy-to-use solutions with AI and real-time data. This helps hospitals meet patient needs well while controlling costs in a growing healthcare system.
Digital wayfinding in healthcare refers to technology solutions, such as mobile apps and beacon systems, that assist patients and visitors in navigating hospital campuses, providing real-time directions and information.
Atrium Health’s wayfinding app uses Bluetooth technology to provide real-time navigation by ‘breadcrumbing’ users through the campus, displaying their location like a Google map.
Key features include easy navigation through a complex hospital campus, location tracking, and integration with other valuable hospital services.
Atrium Health deployed approximately 3,000 wireless beacons across its Carolinas Medical Center campus to facilitate navigation.
Hospitals often struggle with complex layouts, multiple buildings, and the stress experienced by patients and visitors, making navigation difficult.
Mobile wayfinding solutions streamline navigation, reduce patient stress, and potentially increase satisfaction by providing easy access to locations and services.
Saint Luke’s wayfinding app integrates with a robust network setup studied in collaboration with Aruba, combining geolocation, mobile interfaces, and existing hospital infrastructure.
User feedback from patients and families informs app improvements and expansions, ensuring the solution meets real-world navigation needs effectively.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital built a mobile app using Wi-Fi, geomagnetic positioning, and beacons, offering continuous guidance and customizable directions.
Embedding app links in appointment text reminders resulted in over 1,000 percent increase in app usage, leading to improved patient navigation experiences.
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