Study Finds Digital Hospital Displays Enhanced Patient Engagement

Three out of four patients and caregivers who viewed hospital messaging on digital hospital displays in eight hospitals in the U.S. found the content enhanced patient engagement, according to a study by media and marketing research firm Arbitron Inc. commissioned by MedCenterDisplay.

Study Overview

For the study, Arbitron Inc. conducted onsite interviews with adults who had viewed hospital and health-related information running on flatscreen monitors placed in hospital waiting areas and cafeterias. On average, visitors were exposed to patient education and hospital content an average of one hour and eight minutes while in the hospital.

Key Findings

The survey respondents revealed:

• Nearly 75 percent of visitors who viewed the MedCenterDisplay screens could recall at least one message running on the network.
• Respondents said the video screens were informative and educational, better than print as a means of distributing information
• Respondents learned something new from the screens, ranking this information from 4.0 to 4.5 on a 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the highest ranking.
• Information on hospital news, general health news and tips on maintaining good health most interesting, ranking the information from 4.0 to 4.6 on a scale of 1 to 5.
• Only one-third of all visitors to the hospital were actually patients. Two-thirds were family members and caregivers of patients

In the announcement,  MedCenterDisplay CEO Gregg Tarquinio said, “we believe these findings clearly reinforce the value in establishing a robust patient engagement network that brings patients and hospitals together to improve health care. In any patient engagement effort, hospitals have a real opportunity to reach out to everyone involved in a patient’s long-term recovery process.”

Patient engagement tools such as digital hospital displays play an important role in providing patients and their families with appropriate data needed throughout their patient journey. These visual solutions can be used in a number of ways including:

• Navigate with digital hospital displays used as way-finding tools
• Providing real-time updates to a patient’s family and friends on their loved one’s status during a medical procedure
• Delivering comfort to a patient in recovery who’s able to stay connected via an interactive mounted display

“Our research has shown viewers of digital displays often trust the information they see on point-of-care networks. This increased credibility clearly distinguishes these networks from other digital and video channels,”Diane Williams, senior media research analyst for Arbitron, said in the announcement.

Featured image credit: Seattle Municipal Archives via cc