When people visit a large hospital, it’s easy for them to be confused about where to go to get the health care services they need. Couple the navigational confusion with the stress and anxiety patients and their loved ones experience when dealing with health-related issues, and you can see how important a clear and efficient wayfinding system is for creating healing-focused environments. Integrated wayfinding for healthcare facilities provides comprehensive means of helping patients and loved ones find their way to their destinations.

What is Integrated Wayfinding?

Integrated wayfinding is when multiple systems are brought seamlessly together. For example, a hospital could provide wayfinding information on its website  in order to help with planning. This helps patients and family members  plan for how to get around so that they can look for signage and wayfinding queues once they arrive at the facility. The wayfinding information provided on the hospital’s website should work in conjunction with visual cues people first encounter, like vehicular signage and exterior signage. When this information is consistent, people become more confident and do not worry as much about figuring out how to get where they need to go.

What are the Benefits of Integrated Wayfinding?

The benefits of integrated wayfinding are many, for patients, staff, and the health care facility itself. With increased confidence, patients and their loved ones build a sense of trust in the facility as a health care organization they can rely upon for compassionate care. Since many patients and their loved ones are often under a great deal of emotional stress, anything that reduces their anxiety and frustration in getting around lifts a tremendous load off their shoulders.

Integrated wayfinding for health care facilities isn’t about installing more and more signs. Rather, it’s about fitting effective signage into a larger system that consists of helping people prepare themselves before they arrive and educating support staff about the wayfinding system as well. When patients are satisfied with their wayfinding experiences at a health care facility, they develop a positive impression of the facility and tend to recommend it to their family and friends.