How does poor wayfinding affect hospitals?

Poor wayfinding leaves a lasting emotional effect on patients and a lingering financial impact on hospitals. Hospitals are seen as places of confusion and anxiety for visitors, and as a result, revenue, referrals, and professional recruitment may suffer.

Simply put, when patients are lost, money is lost. Patients who are unsuccessful in their wayfinding arrive late for appointments. This delay causes downtime and disruption in schedules and staffing. Money is lost not only on idle staff but also on idle equipment whose expense cannot be recouped with non-billable downtime. Physicians may have to reschedule other appointments and feel their time is being wasted.

Lost time can also come in the form of disruptions, which affect staff morale. Clinical and administrative staff lose time needed for their important jobs when they are constantly stopped and asked for directions.

Being lost undeniably leads to an increase in stress levels, which are already taxed by ill health or anxiety. The lost patient’s level of satisfaction drops, and with it the organization’s reputation. On average, twice as many people hear about a bad experience as hear about a good experience. Customer complaints take time and tact for staff to resolve, and those complaints are only the ones that staff hear about. Studies show that, for each complaint made, perhaps more than twenty other people are keeping their unhappiness to themselves – and to their friends, family members, coworkers, and fellow passengers on the bus.

Visibly and vocally disgruntled patients and visitors can cast a pall of gloom and tension over the facility. Add the feeling of communal dysfunction to the image of disorder that a visually cluttered facility projects, and a serious problem emerges, affecting patient and staff satisfaction and the bottom line. A facility that projects disorganization invites other forms of scrutiny.

Lost revenue, low patient satisfaction rates, and poor morale, however, all pale in comparison to the potential safety issues related to patients and visitors losing their way. Poor wayfinding can lead patients and visitors into restricted areas that can pose either a security problem or, worse, a hazard to their health and the health of others. Depending on the illness, a patient can face a life-threatening situation if delayed, one that may expose others to contamination or harm.