Introduction and the effects of the in-hospital-digital signage for staffs

Abstract

Information sharing in organization is an important task. From January 2013, Yokohama Medical Center has introduced in-hospital digital signage (the system which offers information using TV monitor connecting to network in nursing station or medical office, etc.) with purpose of information sharing with staff members and improving awareness. Information (contents) for narrowcasting is divided broadly into 4 parts；“number of patients in the whole hospital”, “number of patients clinical department-wise/medical ward-wise”, “goal achievement update” and “work communication”. In 1〜2 months after introduction, we conducted monitor questionnaire, identified problems and took countermeasure solutions. And in a half year after introduction, we conducted questionnaire for the whole staff, and surveyed the viewing frequency of in-hospital digital signage, awareness evaluation for number of patients in the whole hospital, high audience rating contents, necessity of in-hospital digital signage for own workplace, etc. As a result, in-hospital digital signage was thought to play a certain role in information sharing. Also, after introduction the number of patients increased greatly and substantial decline of the assessment rate. This indicated that narrowcast about number of patients and goal achievement updates by in-hospital digital signage contributes to improvement in staff's awareness.

Method to use in-hospital digital signage is not clear because there are very few cases introduced in medical institution. Regarding introduction, display panel and delivery will cost more, but only 1 person staff labor in the hospital (holding other work) is enough since work is not so much, and from the view of encouraging information sharing as well as improvement in staff's awareness, the effects of introduction can be considerable. In future, further modifications and new usage structures are required.