10 Things to Consider When Buying Hospital Wayfinding Signage

28 Apr.,2025

 

10 Ideas for Effective Signage of Hospital Interiors - AIScreen

Studies show that poor and unclear signage is a major cause of overwhelm in hospitals. In a North York General Hospital study, 54.8% of patients found unclear signage and navigation issues stressful. After improving healthcare wayfinding signage, stress levels dropped significantly, with over 52% of participants reporting a better patient experience.

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Our internal research confirms that hospitals with digital signage see a 35% improvement in patient flow and a 40% reduction in staff interruptions. As such, it’s clear effective healthcare signage improves navigation, safety, and efficiency. Whether you manage a clinic or a large campus, investing in custom can make a measurable difference.

Here are 10 proven ways to enhance digital signage in healthcare facilities.

Short Summary:

  • Unclear signage overwhelms hospital visitors. Better wayfinding lowers feelings of overwhelm and improves experiences.
  • Parking signs, kiosks, and digital menu boards guide patients, boosting safety and efficiency.
  • Clear visuals and strong branding keep patients informed and donors engaged.
  • Pair the right hardware and software for consistent communication across multiple hospital locations.

1. Parking & Exterior Healthcare Signage

Parking areas are often the first point of contact at your facility. You want to reduce anxiety by using wayfinding signage that helps visitors locate open spots quickly.

Clear directions also keep restricted areas secure and improve overall security. Many hospitals use large signs or digital displays to direct visitors to entrances.

Exterior signage can also feature your logo or brand images. When you partner with a company to develop these solutions, you show visitors that you care about their stress levels right from the start.

2. Lobby & Welcome Screens

Your lobby is where most visitors get their first in-person impression. This space benefits from custom signage that shares announcements, check-in steps, or special services.

Digital screens in waiting areas help manage visitor stress by giving real-time updates about wait times or direction signs to medical offices and clinics. This keeps your communication clear and reduces congestion. Professional yet friendly signage also reinforces your brand.

You can share a range of messages—like community events or patient care tips—helping everyone feel more connected to your healthcare facilities.

3. Wayfinding & Interactive Kiosks

Healthcare directive signage is a key part of any modern facility. Interactive kiosks let visitors access maps, department directories, and step-by-step routes. They can also show visitors where specific rooms, labs, or other locations are.

These digital signs help reduce confusion. They’re especially helpful for children or older adults who might feel lost.

4. Donor Recognition & Fundraising Hospital Signage

Many hospitals rely on donations to expand their buildings or improve services. Dedicated donor walls or digital displays let you show appreciation and progress on fundraising goals.

This type of hospital signage also sparks community support. You can show images of projects you’re working on or highlight the impact donors make on patient outcomes.

5. Employee Communications & Digital Gemba Boards

Digital Gemba boards let your team focus on key metrics and share live updates. These signs deliver shift changes, performance goals, or building safety alerts. When you communicate clearly within departments, you reduce errors and improve patient satisfaction.

You can also highlight employee achievements or celebrate milestones. This simple step boosts morale and helps everyone feel valued.

6. Digital Menu Boards & Cafeteria Signage

Digital menu boards in healthcare facilities offer an easy way to share prices, ingredients, or dietary details. You can display daily specials or healthy eating tips to create a welcoming cafeteria space.

By focusing on fresh, accessible information, you show your ability to adapt quickly. You also keep everyone informed about any changes in meal services or hours.

7. Emergency Notifications & Safety Signage

You need signage to direct visitors to exits, show restricted areas, or explain what to do during an emergency. Digital signs can sync with your alert systems to communicate real-time instructions.

This includes evacuation routes or codes for different situations. Clear wayfinding signals guide people when they feel nervous and need immediate help. Ensure your emergency signage meets ADA standards.

8. Wait Time Displays & Patient Room Screens

Waiting areas can build anxiety if patients have no idea how long they’ll be there. Wait time displays help them manage tension by showing accurate timelines. This type of patient care sign in hospitalscan also hide personal details by using numbers or codes instead of names.

In patient rooms, you can install digital boards that list allergies, care notes, or even daily goals. Such systems help your staff communicate effectively and let families follow care progress.

9. Themed Decor in Hospital and Healthcare Facilities

Your youngest patients need special attention. The right visuals can reduce their anxiety and make them feel safe. By using bright colors, playful graphics, or interactive wall elements, you create a child-friendly environment.

Develop custom hospital signage with cartoon characters or calming themes. This approach also soothes parents who worry about their children’s comfort.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Hospital Wayfinding Signage. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

10. Large-Format Printing & Custom Signage Solutions

Large-format printing lets you produce high-quality building signs, banners, and wall graphics. These can highlight events, facility announcements, and brand elements across various locations.

Customized solutions also let you adjust to different spaces, from patient rooms to administrative offices. By using the right printing techniques, you focus on durability and clarity, which boosts your brand image and helps visitors find their way more easily.

How to Set Up Medical Signage for Facilities

Step 1: Mount Screens for Signage Hardware

Start by choosing high-traffic areas—like waiting rooms, hallways, or near patient wards. Secure the screens to walls or ceilings using sturdy brackets. Position them at eye level for easy viewing and double-check alignment to maintain a polished look.

Step 2: Install Digital Signage Software With Your Hardware

Use a dedicated media player or a plug-and-play device to install your digital signage software.

Make sure your chosen software is compatible with your screen system. This allows for remote updates and easy content scheduling, so staff can prioritize patient care rather than manual changes.

Step 3: Sign Up and Optimize Your Hospital Signage Platform

Once you pick a software solution, create an account to design, schedule, and manage your displays. Remote control features let you update content across different departments without leaving your desk.

Step 4: Combine Your Hardware With the Right Displays

Connect media players or small devices (e.g., a streaming stick) to your hospital TVs via HDMI. This setup should be quick, ensuring minimal disruption for both staff and visitors.

Step 5: Plan Relevant Hospital Signage Content

Schedule vital messages like safety protocols, department directions, or wellness tips. Automated updates reduce manual errors and keep information fresh.

Step 6: Expand Across Multiple Locations

Use a single platform to manage signage in different hospital wings or satellite clinics, ensuring a consistent look and feel.

Step 7: Personalize and Brand Your Displays

Upload custom templates, highlight hospital events, and maintain a unified brand identity throughout your facilities.

Conclusion

Effective hospital signage is crucial for better patient experiences and operational efficiency. Ensure your facility’s signage stands out—get started today and enjoy a 14-day free trial with AIScreen. Or book a demo to personalize a unique solution for your specific project.

FAQs

1. What types of signage are commonly used in hospitals?

Hospitals utilize various signs, including wayfinding, ADA-compliant, digital, safety, and promotional signage, to enhance navigation and communication.

2. How can hospitals ensure their signage is ADA-compliant?

Hospitals can ensure ADA compliance by incorporating Braille and tactile characters into signs, as well as ensuring accessible pathways.

3. What materials are best for hospital and healthcare signage?

Hospitals commonly use acrylic, aluminum, and stainless steel for durable and easy-to-clean signage. For digital displays, high-quality LED or LCD screens ensure visibility and longevity.

7 Questions to Ask When Buying Digital Signage for your Hospital

Automated tools like digital signage allow hospitals to better communicate with visitors, patients, and staff in their facilities. Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated the need for tech-enabled communication strategies. So, if your hospital is looking to launch digital signage in , it’s vital that you choose the best solution for your specific needs.

How do you select the ideal digital signage vendor? Here’s what you need to know.

WHY DIGITAL SIGNAGE?

Communication between healthcare providers, patients, and their families is critically important to instilling confidence and trust in your institution. As Dr. Santosh Honavar writes, “If trust is the defining element of the patient-physician relationship, communication is the means to engender trust.” Today, hospitals must go even further to allay fears, correct misconceptions, and dispel common concerns via a steady flow of information.

Digital signage affords hospitals with a streamlined and seamless way to communicate with visitors and staff alike, ensuring that both parties have instant access to all of the most pertinent details about their hospital visit. In fact, digital signage can improve the hospital experience in multiple ways, including:

  • Improved wayfinding – Navigation via digital signage helps alleviate the frustration and confusion of trying to get around a busy hospital. As studies have shown, “Improved patient [and visitor] travel time correlates to reduce idled nursing time, with cost savings accrued to the organization.”
  • Better Internal communication – When used internally, digital signage can provide important information about personnel, policy changes, or operational announcements. This empowers your staff to operate more confidently and efficiently.
  • Less perceived wait time – Digital signage in waiting rooms can reduce perceived wait time by as much as 35%.
  • Promotions of hospital events and services – Increase revenue and usage of hospital services via promotions. As Becker’s Hospital Review notes, “Digital signage can be deployed to promote specials and promotions, thus increasing sales and profitability tied to concession and hard good sales.”
  • Improved education and safety – Safety videos, static messages, and emergency information can quickly be relayed across the entire hospital or sent to specific units.

Whether it’s used to drive engagement, increase safety, improve the hospital experience, or augment staff efficiency, digital signage is a multipurpose technology that savvy healthcare providers are leveraging to create a significant competitive advantage for their hospital.

SEVEN QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DIGITAL SIGNAGE VENDOR

Before investing in your hospital’s digital signage platform, it’s important to do your research and ask the right questions. The digital signage needs of a retailer or conference center are much different than those of a busy hospital campus. Be sure you partner with a company that understands and specializes in the hospital market, and can meet your hospital’s specific needs. Here are seven questions to help you make the best digital signage choice for your hospital.

  1. How easy is it to use? – The vast majority of employees who will be tasked with content management will not be from the IT department. Therefore, they need a product that’s intuitive and easy to use. The last thing you want is to create another pain point by adopting a clunky system weighed down by an overabundance of bells and whistles. Instead, look for a product that’s simple to learn, efficient, and allows you to schedule messaging ahead of time.
  2. Is it cloud-based? – Digital signage has been around for a while. As a result, there are still many vendors within the marketplace who require a native application or a TV box to be installed in order to run it. These days, the most secure, cost-effective, and convenient option is via a cloud-based service.
  3. Can the hospital leverage existing content? – In all likelihood, your hospital has already invested (and will continue to do so) in a wide assortment of content creation, including ad campaigns, fundraising initiatives, HR videos for employees, patient education videos, and so on. Your digital signage solution should enable seamless uploading of content you have previously developed. This ensures that you are able to maximize and repurpose your content investment.
  4. Is it scalable? – Unlike many other businesses that use digital signage for a singular purpose, hospitals have many potential use cases. When utilized correctly, it can be just as beneficial for staff as for visitors. Because of this, scalability is key. Your solution should be able to empower every department and facet of your organization.
  5. Can multiple departments manage it? – Similarly, because it has many use cases, your digital signage solution should allow multiple departments and staff members to have admin rights necessary to publish content.
  6. Will we need to install additional equipment to run it? – Ideally, your solution should require zero additional hardware to get up and running.
  7. Is the solution hospital-specific? – Your product should be one that’s not built for a variety of end-users, rather, it should be geared specifically for your hospital and its needs.

THE SENTRICS SOLUTION

Digital signage is one of the easiest ways you can instantly improve communication in your hospital. By investing in the right solution—one that’s cloud-based, easy-to-use, and built to address your exact needs—you can improve the delivery of care while increasing staff and patient engagement.

Looking for digital signage built specifically for hospitals?

Contact us for a demo of our easy to use, scalable, and secure E3 digital signage.

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