Hamilton Herald Masthead

Editorial


Front Page - Friday, May 26, 2017

New app brings hospital wayfinding to users’ fingertips




Finding one’s way through a hospital can be a maze of multiple entrances, hallways and elevators. In an effort to simplify a hospital stay or visit, CHI Memorial has introduced a free app that serves as a turn-by-turn directional guide around the Chattanooga campus.

The CHI Memorial app includes maps for every floor of the main hospital. The maps include points of interest for key locations such as cardiac services and the outpatient lab, as well as elevators, eateries, restrooms, nurses’ stations and the gift shop. Points on the maps feature pictures and details about which entrance and elevators to use.

QR codes have been placed throughout the facility. When one of these QR codes is scanned with the CHI Memorial App scanner, it opens that point on the map, showing the user where he or she is and offering the ability to navigate to any location in the facility.

Once the user selects a destination, the CHI Memorial app draws the path on the floor plan on the user’s smartphone and provides turn-by-turn instructions.

The software picks the best path, including the correct elevators when going to different floors, and  saves the user’s last route so he or she can navigate back to where he or she began.

The CHI Memorial app can also find a patient’s room or a physician and provides quick links to common destinations. To download this app, search for “CHI Memorial” in any mobile app store.

Visit www.memorial.org to use the desktop version.

The app utilizes PointsMap technology developed by Video Ideas Productions, a Chattanooga-based company.

Source: CHI Memorial