Part of an ongoing effort to increase convenience and decrease stress
Finding your way around Gettysburg Hospital is now easier thanks to three high-tech directional kiosks.
The touch-screen devices—located in the hospital’s main lobby, community room entrance and near the second-floor elevators—provide visitors with easy, step-by-step directions on how to reach any location on campus.
The kiosks are part of the hospital’s ongoing effort to increase convenience and decrease stress for patients and visitors.
“We have received very positive feedback about the kiosks,” said Amy Repman, WellSpan’s corporate manager of access/registration. “People tell us they are finding their way through the hospital a lot easier.”
Repman emphasizes that the kiosks are meant to complement—not replace—the hospital’s receptionists and staff members, who will still gladly assist visitors with directions.
“Sometimes, however, our information desk is busy,” she said. “Sometimes, a visitor may come to an entrance that has no desk. Or, a visitor may arrive at an hour when there is no one available to offer directions.
“No matter the hour or how busy we are, we want to ensure that our visitors always receive the directions they need.”
Here is how the kiosks work: Visitors can use the touch screen to either type in a specific location or see a list of departments.
After a visitor chooses a destination, the kiosk displays directions, including a map showing the route of travel. This map may also be printed. All information is available in English or Spanish.
The kiosks also can help people who aren’t sure about their destination.
“Sometimes, visitors don’t know the correct name of the department they need to visit,” said Repman. “For example, radiology can be called imaging or the x-ray department. Or, a patient may arrive knowing he needs a CT scan but not know what department that it is in.”
In these situations, the kiosk is programmed to lead the visitor to the correct department based on the information the visitor enters.
“If someone types in CT scan, the kiosk will correctly guide them to Radiology,” pointed out Repman.
Visitors with a doctor’s appointment also are in luck.
“Patients often arrive for an appointment with a Dr. Smith, but they don’t know his first name or where the office is,” said Repman.
“The kiosk will display all of our Drs. Smith along with their first names and specialties.
“Visitors can then choose the correct doctor and print a map. As an added bonus, the bottom of the map will have a brief summary of Dr. Smith’s background and credentials.”
The kiosks have a number of other features. If there are renovations going on in the hospital, the kiosk can be programmed quickly to reroute people. They can also display all the events happening at the hospital on a particular day and direct visitors to the nearest restroom or the cafeteria.
Kiosks also are located in the main lobby of the WellSpan Adams Health Center.
