Nicklaus Children's Uses Wayfinding to Start its Digital Health Journey

The Florida-based health system will use the wayfinding platform to create the foundation for a more extensive patient portal.

Being a kid, or a parent of a kid, in a hospital is an extremely stressful experience and pediatric hospitals are turning to innovative technology to reduce that tension.

At the Nicklaus Children's Health System in Miami, officials have introduced a wayfinding platform and accompanying app to help patients and visitors find their way around the 309-bed hospital and associated care sites, such as doctor's offices and urgent care centers. The resource not only maps their healthcare journey, but helps them locate such amenities as the cafeteria, gift shop, pharmacy, restrooms, and even ATMs.

Hospital leadership says the wayfinding platform is a first step—literally and figuratively—toward a much larger digital health experience.

"This is how we become a connected healthcare provider," says David Seo, MD, the health system's vice president and chief digital and information officer. "We have been wondering how can we use digital health technology to improve the experience for families, and this is our initial foray into that digital experience."

The health system is partnering with Atlanta-based Gozio Health on the platform, accessible through the MyNicklaus App. The platform uses digital health technology similar to a GPS system to give users turn-by-turn directions to their destination, whether it's down the hall or another building on the other side of the city.

While health systems try to make it as easy as possible to get around—think color-coded lines on the floor, maps, signs, and information booths—they can only do so much for what are often stressed-out visitors. And the typical healthcare campus or system has grown, encompassing multiple buildings and sites.

Wayfinding platforms, which can be accessed on a visitor's smartphone or tablet, can be an invaluable resource, and a strong statement toward improving the patient experience. They not only help put visitors at ease but help ensure that patients make scheduled appointments, ensuring care management plans are met, and physician workflows aren't interrupted.

At Nicklaus Children's, Seo sees the platform as the foundation for a much more intricate patient portal, one that can serve as the patient's front door to healthcare.

"This can be more than just a platform for wayfinding," he says. "There's a lot that we can connect to this to improve the patient experience. We are in the midst of a massive consumerization of healthcare … and this is what people have come to expect from us. We want their experience to be as smooth and frictionless as possible."

Nicklaus Children's isn't unique in this strategy. Many health systems across the country are using a tiered approach to developing a patient portal, so that they don't overwhelm either their patients or their staff with new technology and services. The idea is to roll out one service, such as wayfinding, allow some time for everyone to get used to the platform, then gradually add other services to that platform.

"This is our initial foray into the digital experience for patients," Seo says. "We want to make sure we get this right before we move on."

That means making it as convenient for the staff as for the patients. Seo says a wayfinding platform had always been a priority for hospital staff, not just for their own use but as a tool for improved patient engagement. Care providers have a vested interest in making sure patients get to where they need to be in the healthcare system, to reduce the stress and annoyance of missed appointments and to make sure patients are on the best care management path.

Success will be measured in use. Seo says the health system will be keeping close tabs on who uses the platform, how often, and whether it gets people to where they need to be (measured, of course, in the number of no shows and late arrivals for appointments.) They'll also make sure the platform is accurate, in that it's giving detailed and accurate directions and not sending anyone astray. That means making sure every location in the health system is accurately mapped, the cafeteria is open, the ATM or the bathroom is actually right around the next corner, and the doctor's office is where it should be.

"It's not as simple as it seems," says Seo. "It's complicated, and it needs to be intuitive. We need to make sure the overall platform is very contextually aware of [how the health system delivers healthcare services.] It's important that this be a part of how we conduct business, not just be an add-on."

Once both visitors and staff get used to using the app to find their way around the health system, Seo says they'll look to add other services, such as registration, health records access, insurance verification, communications and scheduling tools, even virtual visits. He wants this to be a portal, through which patients and their families access information, talk to care teams, and schedule their visit to the health system before it takes place.

"This is what we're moving toward in healthcare," he says. "This is what people are beginning to expect, and we want to give them that intuitive, seamless experience."