Guest Wi-Fi is a staple of retail and dining establishments, as it can offer shoppers and diners efficient, high-quality service, and provide various marketing opportunities for business owners to turn first-time customers into loyal, repeat customers and brand ambassadors. It can be strategically implemented at every stage of the buyer’s journey to optimize his or her experience.
And the same thing can be true for the healthcare sector.
If we look at a patient’s journey through their healthcare provider’s service, we can find multiple opportunities to offer high-quality service to patients while at the same time streamlining the work of the provider. Efficiency is always top of mind for hospitals and clinics, as an efficient system would ensure dollars are spent wisely and that all patients receive quality healthcare.
Measures of efficiency in the sector include access to timely and effective healthcare, reduced waiting times, meeting self-reported need, avoidable mortality, reducing hospital readmissions, reducing length of hospital stays among patients needing alternate levels of care, and much more.
A guest Wi-Fi deployed in hospitals and clinics can improve the efficiency of many of these aspects. Below, we offer five use cases to show this in action.
Use Case 1: Wayfinding
Wayfinding can be an extremely frustrating experience for individuals heading to their doctor’s appointments. In fact, it has been noted as one of the top complaints by visitors to healthcare facilities. Because of this, it’s an excellent opportunity to truly differentiate a hospital’s brand, increase patient loyalty, and enhance their experience.
Consider Tom, who is running late for his appointment, doesn’t know where to park, doesn’t know where the building is for his appointment, and gets lost every time he comes to the campus. This is unfortunately a familiar experience for many people.
However, with a well-designed Wi-Fi solution, when Tom nears the campus, the hospital’s Wi-Fi system will recognize his device, present a map, show him where to park, and help him navigate to the right office, allowing him to arrive at his appointment on time and stress-free.
In addition, a first-time visitor can also log on to the guest Wi-Fi and immediately find out the way to their appointment, thereby reducing anxiety and creating a positive and seamless experience.
Use Case 2: Triage & Patient Flow
Emergency departments are under constant pressure to deliver high-quality and timely care. High patient demand that goes beyond an emergency department’s capacity can lead to poor patient flow, department overcrowding, and poor patient outcomes.
Doctor triage, rapid assessment, and streamlining have all been found to improve patient flow and emergency department overcrowding. A guest Wi-Fi can triage first-time and repeat patients quickly and effectively, thereby reducing wait times and overcrowding.
Consider Sally, who is unfortunately a frequent visitor to the emergency department, but usually doesn’t require the level of care or expense provided in this setting. With an elaborated Wi-Fi solution, Sally is identified when she enters the building and triaged quickly and less expensively at the urgent care center. This frees up vital emergency resources.
Use Case 3: Wait Times
Patient wait times are another unfortunate consequence of an overburdened healthcare system. A person may arrive on time for their appointment, even early, and still end up waiting almost an hour or more to see their doctor, severely impacting their experience, and perhaps their condition. In certain emergency situations, access to a doctor immediately can be life-saving.
We can look at John as our example, who always arrives on time for his appointments, but Dr. Smith is unfortunately running late today. In the typical case, John would be sitting and wasting time in the waiting room, getting frustrated. However, with a customized Wi-Fi solution, when John enters the building, he is notified that Dr. Smith will be late and is presented with a $5 coupon for the cafeteria. Later, he receives a text message when it is time to head up to Dr. Smith’s office.
This type of solution indicates to the patient that their time is valued and respected, and the doctor regrets causing him or her to wait, and allows the patient to spend their time in a more comfortable setting. In addition, in the above case, John would immediately be able to reschedule any appointments he has after the doctor’s visit, knowing right away that Dr. Smith is running late.
Use Case 4: Donations
Philanthropic donations are becoming an increasingly important part of funding for hospitals in need of new equipment and renovations, but soliciting those donations isn’t always easy. It can take years, especially for smaller hospitals in rural regions, to raise the capital needed even for a new MRI.
Take Fred and his wife, Joanna. Joanna just underwent a surgery and is now doing very well recovering. Fred is extremely grateful to the doctors and hospital and would like to make a donation in honor of Joanna’s surgeon. However, upon getting home, Fred gets stuck with many other tasks and then is too tired later in the evening to go about the process. Luckily, when he goes in to visit his wife the next day, his phone presents him with an easy to use donation portal and he happily makes a donation at that time.
In today’s rapidly changing world, the easier an organization can make a task for a user, the more likely it is that the action will be taken. By asking for a donation when Fred arrives at the hospital the next day, and ensuring the portal’s easy user experience, the hospital has now secured a much-needed donation.
Use Case 5: Questionnaires & Surveys
Questionnaires and surveys are excellent ways to receive detailed feedback regarding an experience. At hospitals and clinics, surveys can provide valuable information for healthcare providers on the ways they can improve the patient experience by hearing it directly from the patients.
Here we can look to Bob. Shortly after Bob leaves the hospital, he receives a message on his phone asking him to fill out a short survey about his experience. Bob is pleased that his opinion is solicited and is able to provide a detailed review as the request was so timely.
Sending a survey request when the experience is still fresh will allow patients to comment in better detail about how everything went and any improvements that can be made.
Conclusion
Guest Wi-Fi offers many benefits to the healthcare sector that can significantly improve hospital efficiency and patient outcomes. Everything from wayfinding to patient triage to donation requests can be made more effective by the implementation of a customized Wi-Fi solution. Datavalet offers a suite of visitor and patient Wi-Fi solutions for healthcare providers. Don’t hesitate to contact us today to find out more.
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Datavalet provides high-speed Wi-Fi network management to guest and staff across your business. We can transform Wi-Fi from commodity to business value.